Social Links and Genuine Things
by With Death Comes More Death
Summary: On the afternoon of his birthday, Hikigaya Hachiman is forced to do something that he wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy: celebrate his birthday. Though, as always, something unexpected happens along the way. (ON HIATUS)
1. Chapter 1

Yo, it's another new story. Read it. Enjoy it. If you enjoy it, go over to SpaceBattles and read it there, cause I'm updating one a week over there in installments of 2K. I'm only going to post to here once I'm done with chapters. If you wanna know why I'm even posting here to begin with, I'm doing it to help reach all audiences that I possibly can. Gotta diversify, after all.

 **-Mandatory Disclaimer-**

I don't own nothing about this story (except the ideas I myself come up with).

 **-8/8/20XX.-**

Birthdays.

It was safe to say that I didn't like them one bit. Really, what were they more than an unnecessary celebration of someone being alive for yet another revolution around the Sun? Seriously, why go through all of the trouble of putting together a party for something as mundane as that?

Sure, one could argue that they were nice to have when you were just little a kid as they were usually easy ways to instill within a child a distinct sense of individuality, of self-worth, of being special essentially — which was a decent argument against my stance of them meaning nothing…if that was actually the case for every child that was in the world.

What was a birthday to a child who had parents who couldn't afford to celebrate in anyway, other than a cruel reminder that their family cared more about a paycheck than them? To a child who just so happened to be born on a worldwide holiday and was always forced to celebrate their birth alongside it, other than a restating of how inferior they were? To a child who didn't have a friend to celebrate with, other than a way to better emphasize how lonely they really were?

To those kids, I was sure that their birthdays didn't make them feel any more special every time they came along. Actually, I was fairly confident the opposite happened. I was one of those kids, after all, and I certainly didn't feel my confidence being raised when I invited all the kids in my class one year while I was still in primary school, to celebrate with me at my house — only to have not a single soul show up.

Long story short, I thoroughly believed the concept of a birthday to be nothing more than idiocy made by a self-congratulatory society, meant to fool hopeful idiots into thinking that that they weren't what they actually were, just another face in a sea of seven billion.

Anyone who knew me to any extent knew my disdain for the tradition. Well, at least, I sincerely hoped so. I swear, I've voiced it enough times to drill it into the memory of a goldfish. So, if someone close to me were to be somehow unaware that fact, I'd have to be concerned that they were a) going senile, b) developed a condition that caused them to go deaf for moments at a time, or c) a complete and utter airhead.

Now, clearly, the girl standing before me with the brightest smile I had ever seen fell under that last category of being an airhead, which didn't surprise me at all. Hard to be surprised when you already knew as much about the person to begin with. It was safe to say that the girl in front of me was the very epitome of the phrase 'air-head' and that wasn't me just being mean either! This is proven by science, people! Look up her grades! They're downright atrocious!

"Yuigahama…" I began slowly, dull grey eyes never leaving said girl's — which despite being completely closed from the moment I stepped in, I knew could see the irritation that was currently present on my face. There, standing directly in front of me, was Yuigahama Yui, a girl who was many things to me: a classmate, clubmate, and very close acquaintance – a title that I personally thought to be inadequate for someone as close to me as herself, but was unable to upgrade due to an agreement between the both of us. "Didn't I already tell you that—?"

"Yeah, I remember what you said, Hikki!" The girl in question whined loudly as her brown eyes suddenly shot open; her entire body slouched forwards dramatically; her pale white, flawless cheeks puffed out and her lipgloss covered lips formed a pout. "I just didn't want to listen, is all! Especially when you say something _that_ dumb! I mean, who say something like," her voice suddenly became deeper as she made an obvious attempt at trying to imitate my voice, "'I have no desire to do something as idiotic as celebrate my eighteenth birthday'."

…

Huh. Seeing that she actually managed to remember what I told her over the phone the other day, I guess I was wrong about her being a complete airhead. It also rules out her going senile and the temporary deafness theories. That means one thing then. I am currently dealing with a traitor worse than Brutus and Judas combined and her name is Yuigahama Yui.

"Basically, what you're saying is that you hate me and have no desire to see that my one birthday wish for today comes true?"Adamantly not wanting to leave the comfort and safety of my home on today of all days, I decide to go for the kill immediately. Please remember this Gahama-san as you cry into the pillow they put under your head in the casket, I don't hate you. I hate birthdays. Blame birthdays for your sudden death via verbal lashing. "Sorry, this hurts to say, but I usually don't like to associate myself with people like yourself so please, go away and come back at a later time when you've learned your lesson. Until then, I will spend my time in my room, crying my eyes out due your sudden betrayal." I slowly being to close the door in her face, hoping that she'll be so confused with my Isshiki-like rambling to notice. "Thank you and have a good day."

I let out a silent curse when I felt the door suddenly cease closing despite me putting force behind it. Damn. She saw through my trick. Well, might as well face the music and see if I can convince her to leave me alone face to face.

"What?" I asked and am immediately rebuked for it.

"Did you seriously try to slam the door in my face just then?!" Her voice was so loud that it was literally ear-piecing and the pitch of her voice was so shrill that I'm sure glassware in my house had shattered without my knowledge. "Do you seriously hate celebrating your birthday that much, that you won't even entertain the thought—?!"

"Yes, I hate it that much," I don't hesitate in cutting her off and giving her my honest answer. She asked for it, after all. Might as well just give it to her. "Now, please leave me alone."

…

Oi, woman, why are you looking down at the ground like that? Also, why is your body shaking like that? It's the middle of August, y'know. There's no way you're cold. Wait, was that a sniffle right there? Did you seriously just sniffle there? Oh, you have got to be kidding… There's no way I actually made you cry with that little verbal abuse. Aren't you good friends with both Miura Yumiko and Yukinoshita Yukino? I've heard them do more than that to you and yet not a single tear. How is it that when I do it to you, you immediately start crying? Is it the fact that they're also girls that you can withstand their verbal lashings?! Frankly speaking, this is unfair! This is actual discrimination! How dare you try and say that I can't be mean to a girl just because she is one? I thought women these days wanted equality? What the hell are with these double standards?!

Knowing myself well enough to know that if I were to open my mouth, I'll instantly cave into her demands of: "helping me celebrate my birthday." I decide to keep it shut and just stare at the girl as she continued to look at the ground and fake cry. Yeah, I know that you're fake crying right now! You can't fool me, woman! Isshiki's pulled the card against me so many times that it's lost all affect! Even my own sister can no longer fool me with it and you know how weak I am to Komachi!

"Agh, seriously!?" With that voicing of frustration, Yuigahama lifted her once bowed head and looked at me straight on, an annoyed pout on her lips as she glared at me piercingly. "You were seriously just going to do nothing there? What if I was actually crying?!"

…Did you really just ask me that question with a straight face? What if you were actually crying? You weren't even actually crying in the first place! Why are you bringing up things like that when you yourself, the girl who was supposedly crying, knew that they aren't true in the first place?! That makes no sense! Is that supposed to make me feel bad? Ha! The only thing that makes me feel is just how much of an idiot you are!

 _Sigh._ Okay, now that's out of my system, best to try and do everything in my power to convince her to leave without angering her any further. Yuigahama may not be able to do anything to me herself, but she knew people—actually, she knew _a lot_ of people who wouldn't think twice about putting me in the ground for being an unbelieveable prick, which, to be honest, is something I'm lucky hasn't happened to me yet.

"Alright…" I begin, my voice heavy with the exasperation that this conversation had caused within me. "What can I do to convince you to leave me alone for the day? I'll do anything."

"'A-Anything…'?" Yuigahama asked, flinching back slightly as she did so – an act that caused the pink bun on the side of her head to shift slightly. Huh. If that thing starts to move around even with that little movement, how is it possible I've never seen that thing come loose at least once? You must tie them really well. "R-Really?"

"I said as much, didn't I? Just make sure it happens on any other day than today."

"W-Well— Wait, stop trying to trick me, Hikki! You're coming with me to celebrate your birthday whether you like it or not!"

"So…you're just going to drag me out of my home without my consent? You do know that, at some point, caring about me turns into kidnapping, right?"

" _Mou…_ Why does Hikki have to be so mean?" With a loud, high-pitched whine that reminded me of something a child would do to guilt trip their parents, the supposed seventeen year old in front of me puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms over her chest. I, of course, blink in reply, not knowing what doing that was supposed to accomplish. Are you still trying to use your cuteness to get me to break? Ha! Is that all? Your best efforts pale in comparison to what Isshiki and, lord forbid, Komachi's appeals— "I wonder what Komachi-chan would say if she knew that her onii-chan was being so un…unre…unrecep... _mean_. This was her idea, after all—"

"—Wait, what?" My lips end up moving on their own. "Is that true? Did Komachi put you up to this?" The airhead in front of me nodded firmly. … Dammit, looks like I've lost this one. Well, I have a few hours to spare until _she_ needs me. I guess I can go. "Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place? Wait here, I'm going to get ready. I'll be out in a bit."

"So fast! Hikki really is a sis-con—" I don't hear whatever she was trying to say. Most likely because I slammed the door in her face just before she could finish whatever it was. Oi, don't start yelling at the door like I just did something awful to you. There's a concept in the world called sportsmanship, y'know? Just because you bested me this one time (and trust me, I'm going to make sure that number doesn't change ever), it doesn't mean you have to rub my face in it. That's just plain rude…

…(lol).

…

May it never be said that I, Hikigaya Hachiman, was an awful older brother to my little sister, Komachi. I mean, look at me. I'm currently out in the world right now, actually celebrating my birthday just like how I _never_ wanted to. How much more self-sacrificing can a guy get for the sake of his little sister's happiness? I fully expect to be rolling in Komachi points by the time I see her next for today's efforts. If not, I'll be sorely disappointed.

"So," I begin to say, an action that succeeds in its goal of bringing my pink-haired guide's attention to me, "where exactly are we going again?"

I ask that as the two of us stroll through the entertainment district of Chiba, which is filled to the brim with things that one of my age would normally find "entertaining". Not to say that _I_ found any of it interesting at all: me being not normal and all. Outside of the arcade, which we've already passed, there wasn't much that I saw that really interested me. A detail that told me that, whatever Yuigahama had planned on doing, it wasn't something I was familiar with. Dammit… She was probably thinking about "broadening my horizons" again. Seriously, what's wrong with someone liking to do a certain thing and only that thing? Nothing! That's what!

"For the last time, Hikki! I can't tell you! It'd ruin the surprise!" Said guide retorted, an air of irritation surrounding her words. What? I get that this is the…sixth time I asked that question now, but can you really blame me for doing so? Think about it. You're currently leading me away from my home, to some unknown location to "celebrate my eighteenth birthday". That's a sketchy proposal no matter how you look at it. "Besides, just wait a little longer, alright? We're almost there."

"Fine, fine." My dissatisfied grumblings are immediately followed by a tired sigh. I did so in a conscious effort, by the way. I was unhappy with where I was currently being forced to be and I wanted to make that fact clear to her. Unfortunately, my gestures of displeasure seemed to fall on deaf ears as Yuigahama simply continued on her way forwards in her usual upbeat manner. "Just don't take forever, alright?"

"Huh, what's with the rush? Do you actually have something to do later?" To my surprise, the question that came back in response wasn't voiced in the way I had expected. Usually, someone would rebuke me and just assume that I had nothing planned before then, dragging me along against my will. Instead, her voice was filled with honest, pure curiosity. Nothing more, nothing less. It was a refreshing change of pace, to say the least.

"Well…" I begin, but stop myself, trying to think of the right words to explain my situation. "Actually—"

"—Oh look!" Oh wait, never mind what I said earlier about this being a change of pace. Looks like my protests were going to be unheard once again. "There they are! My surprise!"

Without letting me get a single word edgewise, my airheaded guide began running towards something that I recognized immediately and, simultaneously, made me want to start running in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, before I could even contemplate the negatives outcomes of such an act, an unexpected voice rang out and firmly locked me in place as the group of descended upon me like a flock of vultures.

"Hey there, Hikitani-kun," the person at the forefront of the group greeted me with his usual perfect illusion of a smile. Hayama Hayato, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, king of the riajuus himself, was standing before me. For what reason, I didn't know, but I can only assume that it's to celebrate my birthday – given that aforementioned group of people was made up of people I knew and would technically have a reason to do so. That only makes me question your presences more, though. What are you even doing here, Hayama? I thought you hated me. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks." Not being one to throw away my manners just because the inside of my mouth started to taste really bitter, I make sure to respond, while also showing the least amount of contempt towards him as humanly possible. I have to say, though. Doing so was extremely difficult.

"Hikitani, bro!" Speaking of riajuus, the next person to greet me was someone who almost as insufferable Hayama. Actually, wait, no. I could at least tolerate this next guy and his annoying, overly loud antics. Hayama, on the other hand, put me in an awful mood to just look at. That being said, I couldn't help but glare at the tolerable riajuu coming my way for what he just said. Oi, Tobe, the hell do you think you're calling 'bro' so casually? There's only one person who gets to call me that and her name is Komachi— H-Hey! Why are you suddenly getting so close?! You aren't Totsuka! Get your damn arm off my shoulders, you bleach-haired ape! "Happy eighteenth, man!"

Seeing that my personal space had rapidly been invaded, I decided to throw all my previous mental speak about manners out the window and just openly glare at the invader of my space instead of replying. Tobe Kakeru, the loudest person in all of Sobu High and the only other male member of Hayama's group that I bothered to remember the name of. Bleached-brown hair, random headband holding his hair back for no reason, and excessively loud behavior. Truly, he was the epitome of a riajuu.

"Tobe-san…" Suddenly, and from out of nowhere, an angelic voice rang through the air, uttering the name of my riajuu oppressor. Turning my attention towards where it had originated from, I found that my previous bad mood had up and disappeared. Standing there, in all his infinitesimal glory, was Totsuka Saika – a young man who looked like a girl and was entirely too pure to be on this Earth. Everything from hair, which was a heavenly white, to his heart-shaped face, which was accented by a pair of eyes so blue that it rivaled the sea in its majesty, only made my stated opinion of his 'too-good-for-this-world' status stronger. "…I don't think Hachiman's very…um, comfortable in that position." See! This is what I'm talking about! Without me even saying anything, he's already coming to my aid! What a great friend I have in you! "Oh, and happy birthday, Hachiman!"

When I heard him say that, I felt something in my heart suddenly be illuminated by a warm, relaxing light. So much so, that I couldn't even bring myself to stop staring and thank him for the greeting. Face, I know and understand why you're turning red right now, but I need you to stop before a certain someone notices—

" _Kah_!" Too late. She's already picked up on the undertones in the atmosphere. Okay, time to go find a window to jump through. What? I'm standing on solid ground right now and that's impossible? Crap. "My heart! I can't take it! Getting to see all four you come together to celebrate Hikitani's birthday!" Suddenly a geyser of blood spouted out from the speaker's nose with enough force to send her head flying backwards. I, nor anyone around me was surprised by the display put on by Ebina Hina – the local yaoi lover of Sobu High. We all knew of her antics by now and we all knew that saying anything wouldn't do anything about it. "Ah, my poor, little heart can't take it anymore! Thank you Hikitani-kun! It's your birthday and you're the one giving me a gift!"

After Ebina's little outburst, I blinked at her. The three other guys standing near me blinked at her after that. I'm pretty sure we all then blinked at her simultaneously after that. Then, all male members of the group took a step away from each other.

"Was that seriously necessary, Hina? We're in public, y'know?" The next person to speak was one fire queen of Sobu High: Miura Yumiko, clearly dyed blonde hair that was unnecessarily styled into drills; deep, vibrant emerald-green eyes; and strangely overly-aggressive personality, despite being also really socially conscious. Suddenly, her exasperated eyes came my way. I couldn't see any sign of emotion in them at all. "Anyways, happy birthday, Hikio."

…Was that really it? That's all you have to say? Huh, for some reason I expected something more. Like a scalding insult for no reason. Are you okay, Miura-san? Did these people here drag you here to celebrate too? Hm…It's weird to finally be on the same page as you.

"What are you talking about, Yumiko? Out in public is the perfect place to display my love for BL," Ebina countered, her voice having lessened in intensity some as she looked over at someone else, who was clearly trying to distance herself from the rest of the group both physically and figuratively, as she was also looking away off to the side as well. "Isn't that right, SakiSaki?"

'SakiSaki', as Ebina called her, swiftly shifted her attention over to the group she was trying her hardest to ignore, or more specifically, the one of us that currently had two streams of blood rolling down the lower part of her face. From what I've seen from the two interacting in the past, the two were friends, though I couldn't help but question that with how the light-blue ponytailed, delinquent-looking former was glaring her light purple eyes at the brown-haired, bob-cutted, bespectacled latter.

"Ugh… Why'd I even agree to coming here?" SakiSaki asked herself aloud as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Oi, you're here to celebrate my birthday and I'm standing right here. Don't act like I don't exist. I'm more than 100% percent sure Stealth Hikki isn't active right now, so _I_ know, that _you_ know that I'm here.

Someone seemed to share my sentiment about being so easily snubbed and cleared their throat rather loudly. Turning my head towards where it came from, I find that I'm both very surprised and, at the same, not surprised at all by who it turned out to be. How could I possibly think so contrastingly? To put things as bluntly as possible, that was the only way I could make any sense of Yukinoshita Yukino, the infamous ice queen of Sobu High and _also_ the second daughter of Chiba's first family in terms of wealth and stature. Everything about her just sort of naturally contrasted with some other part of her. It was actually kind of mind-boggling to have to think about.

Anyways, what I was trying to get at by saying both her name and her two titles was that, the two parts of her personality that were the most prominent when we were in public should've made it so that she acted in one of two ways: either she a) conform to her ice queen facade and not care about the blatant snub, or b) scold SakiSaki for displaying such bad manners towards me due to her familial background in wealth. So, knowing that, I had already expected one of two reactions from her. Turns out it was the latter.

Seeing that she had succeeded in getting SakiSaki's attention, the raven-haired rich girl flicked some of her long, silky hair behind her shoulder, clearly annoyed, and replied, "If you're going to talk like that while the reason is standing just a few feet away from you, then I too am going to have to ask you that question, Kawasaki-san."

Wait, SakiSaki's last name is Kawasaki? Huh, and here I thought that her name was Kawahonda Saki this entire time. Man…I really need to write that down somewhere. This is the kind of mistake that can lead to misunderstandings.

"What was that?" Unlike Yukinoshita, Kawasaki didn't act differently given the social situation. Usually, she acted in a single, consistent way, which made it easy for me to anticipate the sudden shift to the standoff-ish attitude that had earned her the delinquent label from our peers. It also helped that it was a well-known fact that she, Kawasaki, didn't like Yukinoshita at all due to the latter's wealthy roots, but trust me, it really only helped a small, tiny bit. "Don't you start talking down to me like I'm an idiot, rich girl. I know exactly why I'm here. I'm just not the biggest fan of the people here excluding that reason, is all. You being included."

"Hey, I heard that!" Miura yelled out indignantly from the sidelines, most likely somewhere near Hayama knowing her, while all the others simply chuckled to themselves awkwardly.

"And yet, here you are," Yukinoshita, not being one to back down from such verbal matches, instantly started to go on the counterattack, "trying to get a rise out of me instead of wishing that reason a happy birthday…" She trailed off as she glanced at me with her beautifully blue eyes and allowed a smug smirk grow on her lips. Oi, I know that smirk. I know that you're only trying to prove a point, but I'd rather you not use me as a tool to do so. "Oh, and happy eighteenth birthday, Hikigaya-kun."

"Um… Thanks?" I reply half sincerely, the other half being a little miffed that I was relegated to an afterthought, even though I was the only reason she was here in the first place with.

Right after I said that, a low growl came from Kawasaki. It only lasted a split second though as the girl stopped herself in said amount of time. If I had to guess as to why, I'd bet money that it was because she realized that by doing so, she was playing right into the ice queen's hands. That didn't stop her from glaring, though.

"H-Hey, Yukinon, Saki-chan, let's not fight, okay?" Yuigahama, being the excellent peacekeeper that she was, saw the conflict going on in front of her and how it was most likely going to spiral out of control fast, and used her kindness to nip it in the bud as fast as possible. "Instead, we should be focusing on making Hikki's birthday party the best it possibly can be!"

The air almost immediately erupted into a chorus of affirmations to Yuigahama's statement, all of which of varying intensities. I, of course, didn't join them.

The two girls that had been right on the cusp of waging verbal, nuclear warfare against each other, glanced at the bubblegum-haired girl telling them to calm down and almost immediately caved into her influence, looking away from the other with their eyes closed and arms crossed over their chests. I couldn't keep from being impressed by the sight. I mean, how many people could really say that seeing a puppy stop a lion and tiger from fighting wasn't an impressive sight? Not many.

"Fine," Kawasaki replied with a bitter huff. She then turned her attention to me – rather suddenly, might I add. "Happy birthday, by the way."

Instead of responding verbally, I simply nod my head back in acknowledgement. Thankfully, she wasn't the kind of girl to get angry about having her show of thanks regulated to a simple downward tilt of the head. Actually, I'm pretty sure she was the type of girl to appreciate that kind of gesture — her being a loner like myself and all.

Anyways, my choice of thanking the girl aside, it looks like everyone in the group has had a chance to unnecessarily congratulate me, though I can't help but feel like we're missing someone—

"Huh? Yukinon, where's Iroha-chan?" As if she were reading my mind, Yuigahama asked a question that directly answered my own, pulling out her smartphone from a pocket in her shorts as she did so. Unlocking it with practiced ease, she added on in a way that clearly displayed her confusion, "I thought that she said that'd she come…"

"Yuigahama-san, I'm sure that Isshiki-san is on her way." Seeing that her friend had allowed worry to creep into her usually cheery, bubblegum head, Yukinoshita spoke in an attempt to assuage Yuigahama's aforementioned worries. Wait, did I seriously just hear you right, Yukinoshita? Isshiki, Isshiki Iroha, is the one who's running late to a planned meeting? Huh, who in the world would've guessed that? "I'm sure she's has a good reason for being this late—"

Funnily enough, just as the ice queen said that, an all too familiar voice of a certain kouhai rang through the air from directly behind me, "Ah, senpai~! Senpai~! Senpai, over here!" Turning around, I find myself not being at all surprised by the sight of Isshiki Iroha jogging over to where I was standing, her shoulder-length, flaxen hair bouncing with every step closer she took towards me. When she finally reached the spot in which I was standing, she immediately bent over and began panting heavily. If I was someone less familiar with her, I would've assumed that the display was, in fact, real and that she wasn't just doing it to gain sympathy points from me for being late. _Thankfully_ , I knew better. "I'm sorry for being late." She looked around at all the people she had kept waiting. "Did I keep you all waiting for long?"

"Ah, no, we weren't—" Hayama, just like the nice guy he pretends to be, immediately tries to do what's expected of him.

"—Yeah, we've been here for about ten minutes now." I, of course, don't allow him to do so. Doing something like that would only encourage such behaviour in the future, y'know? Gotta nip that bud in the head while you still can, y'knoooow? Oh wait, why is everyone glaring at me like I just broke some age old code just now?

"Ugh, senpai!" Of course, that sort of response doesn't sit well with my kouhai, who immediately stood straight up and sent a glare right at me with her amber eyes. Ha, glare at me all you like! I'm never going to stop calling you out on your bullshit! If there's ever a time in which I do, I'll already be long dead and in the ground! "How many times do I have to tell you! You're supposed to say—"

A cough cuts her off before she could go through with her usual spiel about how 'a man should always say that they just got there because it makes the girl feel bad to know that they made the guy wait for any amount of time'. Ha, what a load of bull. Why do I have to make anyone feel better about wasting _my_ time by being late?

"Excuse me, Isshiki-san?" Yukinoshita's voice reaches my ears and I realize that I'm in the middle of a conversation and it isn't the best time to start ranting about stupid, unfair double standards that women force upon men. "I'm sorry to interrupt while you're in the middle of berating Hikigaya-kun for being the rude, insensitive human being that he is, but I do believe that there's still something you need to tell him."

"So she does it for everyone, huh…?" From somewhere to my left, I hear a certain girl with a motorcycle-based name grumble that under her breath. I was tempted on commenting, but as I glance over in her direction, I see someone with a look of deep contemplation and frustration, which is a sign that tells me that it's probably best to keep my mouth shut on the matter.

"Huh?" Isshiki turned her head to look at Yukinoshita and gave her a quizzical look, before her face then lit up in realization. "O-Oh yeah, right!" The girl turned back to me, tilted her head slightly and winked at me, smiling her usual foxy smile the entire time - the same one that has never succeeded in enticing me ever. "Happy birthday, senpai!"

Alright, _now_ everyone present has said 'happy birthday' to me.

…

Hm, why do I still feel like we're missing someone? Someone male… Someone with a great deal of body fat on him… Someone who's always wearing a trench coat, no matter the weather… Someone I'm ashamed to be associated with most of the time… Whelp, no one comes to mind. Must've not been that important if I can't be bothered to remember his name.

"Alright, since everyone's done greeting me and all, what exactly are we going to do now?" From pretty much out of the blue, I ask that question as I pull my phone from my pocket. Checking the time, I can't help but frown and furrow my eyes when I see what's being displayed at the top of my screen. Crap. Only going to have a few hours before I need to head back home… Suddenly feeling the all too familiar, hair-raising sensation that only the scrutinizing stares of people could give you, I glance up from my phone and see that I _was_ being stared at by the group that had been assembled to celebrate my birthday. Immediately, I started to slide my phone back into my pocket.

"Hikigaya-kun…" Yukinoshita started as she crossed an arm over her chest and held her head in her free hand, her voice low and ominous, "…I know that you don't want to be here—"

"—Don't take it like that. I just need to get back home before a certain time." Already knowing what she was going to say, I'm quick to interrupt her with the reason why I looked at my phone. "My mom told me that she was going to come home from work early to celebrate with me. My dad said that he'd try to, but he said that he might not be able to due to work stacking up."

"O-Oh…" As expected, Yukinoshita didn't take being proven wrong well. To be fair to her though, what just came out of my mouth was a big, giant lie that wouldn't hold up to any sort of scrutiny, so she shouldn't have been feeling that way to begin with. Actually, now that I'm looking around, everyone around me was looking at me with just about the same way. "I-I'm sorry, I wasn't aware—"

"Don't worry too much about it." Not wanting her to feel bad about something that was totally untrue, I cut her off again. Looking away just in case my guilt decided to show itself on my face, I add, "We still have a good deal of time before I need to start heading back anyways, so there's no real reason to stress about it."

"A-Alright! Now that's been settled, let's all get going!" Yuigahama, most likely seeing a need to, decided to step in and cheer that out loudly - a decision that elicited a chorus of cheers from the rest of the group. Of course, the same couldn't be said about the less…vocal members, me being included. I actually cringed a little when they did so. So loud… Tone it down a little, will you! We're still in public, y'know?!

…

As I expected, Yuigahama Yui would make me do something that was 'out of my comfort zone' to help me 'grow as a person'. _Sigh_. Seriously? I mean… Seriously? This of all things? Wasn't forcing me out of my home to meet up with a large group of people enough of a step out of my comfort zone? You're really gonna subject me to this too? What a cruel woman, you are.

What was I currently griping about? Well, my eyes were currently looking at a sign that read "karaoke". That was what I was currently griping about.

Glaring at my pink-haired torturer, said sadist let out an awkward chuckle and said, "S-Sorry…"

Breathing in deeply to keep my composure, I turn my attention back to the sign that was mocking me and take a step towards the door that sat underneath it. Back in my more naive days, I used to dream of going to a place like this, with a group this big. Now, I absolutely feared it. The idea itself made me toss and turn in the night. Well, not actually, but I still very much loathed the idea to its core being the person I was. Doing something as embarrassing as singing was easy when you were a well-liked, popular riajuu like the majority of those around me. When you're a social outcast? _Pft_. Dead upon arrival.

As I reached a hand out towards the door's handle, my hand was forced into a full stoppage when the sound of a police horn sliced through the air.

"Huh, what was that?" The airhead next to me asked. I could see from the corner of my eyes that she started to look around for the source of the noise. Dammit… Now? Now of all times? You really have a terrible sense of timing, you know?

"Yuigahama-san, I'm pretty sure that was the sound of a police horn," Yukinoshita answered back in quick succession. From what I heard in her voice, there wasn't an ounce of concern in her voice.

"Police?" Miura parroted from somewhere behind me. She sounded confused, as she should be. "I didn't see any police cars pass by, though… You see anything, Hayato?"

"Ah, no, I didn't." Despite Hayama saying that and me not looking behind me where he was standing, I was sure that he himself wasn't sure of what he was saying. "I'm guessing that it must've came from some nearby street. It's probably nothing."

"Yeah, but that didn't sound like it came from far away though…" Totsuka chimed in, clearly unsure of the riajuu king's attempt at keeping the peace.

"Eh, I wouldn' worry much 'bout it." After Hayama had failed, it seemed that it was now Tobe's turn to keep the peace. "Prolly nothing to worry about just like Hayato said."

"Yeah, Hayato-senpai and Tobe-senpai are right!" Isshiki added quickly, though her tone was one of annoyance more than it was of agreement. "Now can we get inside now? It's really hot out here!"

"Yeah, I'm with her," Kawasaki grumbled out bitterly, sharing in the local kouhai's irritation, but in a much blunter fashion. "It's freaking baking out here… Also, I'm pretty sure that this heat isn't helping Ebina at all after losing that much blood."

"I am okay, SakiSaki!" Aforementioned BL lover exclaimed in reassurance. I could even picture the thumbs up she was giving her delinquent friend. "Don't you worry about me!"

"What are you saying? You look like you're about to pass out at any moment—!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going in." Not wanting to listen to the commotion going on behind me anymore with what I knew was coming our way, I decide to just get it over with. There's no way we're going to get out of this by delaying the inevitable.

As I pulled the door in front of me open, I felt a subtle pulse of energy run through the air and over my body – something that my companions didn't seem to notice. I couldn't blame them for it. I didn't notice it myself when this first happened to me.

Stepping inside, I wasn't surprised by what I saw next. I couldn't say the same for those who stepped inside with me, though. They all reacted pretty much the same way – which could basically be perfectly summed up with two words: "confused" and "surprised" – so I didn't bother actually paying attention to what any of them were saying, but I couldn't help but feel bad for them. They had no idea what was coming. Well, at least they had someone to help guide them through the process… Heh, lucky bastards.

…

If one were to take one look at the hallway that the front door of the karaoke place's front door led to, not a soul would question the looks of panic that were on all of my companions' faces. What we should've been seeing was a waiting room with a desk where we could rent a room for karaoke. Instead, us ten were all treated to the sight of a tall, full cement hall that seemed to go on for forever and ever.

"Yo," I call out to the people behind me, who I was sure were all still trying to make sense of what they were currently looking at, without turning around, "if you want to make it out of this alive, I suggest you all follow me." I mean to start moving forwards after perfectly executing that action hero-style one-liner, but I quickly realize that I still need to tell them something. "Oh, and also, I wouldn't suggest trying to go back out through that door behind us." _Now_ , I start to move. "Trust me, it's going to much safer in here than out there."

"Hikigaya-kun, wait, w-what are you— Do you know what's going on here?" Hayama, finally deciding it a serious enough situation to use my real damn name, asked me, his usually calm and even voice being tainted with a clear panic.

Stopping once again to turn and face the riajuu while I answered him, I then proceeded to give him the response that he should've expected from me, "Of course I do." I narrow my eyes at him in irritation. "Why in the hell would I tell you to follow me otherwise?"

"H-Hey, don't talk to Hayato like that!" Miura, probably seeing that I was verbally attacking the "love of her life" (lol), quickly moved to speak in his defense. "He's just confused as to what's going! Just like the rest of us are!" She gestured to everyone else in the entrance hallway around them as she took an aggressive step towards me. "So, how about you stop trying to act all cool and mysterious, and explain to us what the hell is going on!"

…

Letting out a sigh in response to the silence that ensued due to Miura's little outburst, I shake my head disbelievingly as I wonder just who in the hell thought it was good idea to add more people into this equation. I was doing just fine on my own! I mean, yeah, I needed _her_ help with solving a case more often than not, but that didn't mean ten more people were needed!

"Look," I begin, my voice probably sounding exasperated ed as all hell, "I'll explain what's going on to all you once we're out. Right now, we don't have time time to—"

Just then, I was cut off by two voices that sounded out simultaneous to each other, coming from two opposite directions. One was shrill, other-worldly, and distorted. The other belonged to someone I feared much more and was accompanied by the sound of a door getting pulled open.

"INTRUDERS, KILL THEM!" "Hachiman, comrade! I, the master general, have come to celebrate your day of birth! My apologies for being late!"

"Hikki, look out behind you! Something's coming—" Out of all the people that began to try and warn me, Yuigahama was the quickest. She even managed to do so quick enough to

 _Sigh_.

Turning around slowly, I find what I can only describe as a giant mass of shadow rushing towards me and slamming itself down into the ground directly in front of me, causing a blast of wind to hit me. Oi, whatever kind of shadow you turn out to be, could you do me a favor and not do that? It doesn't really do anything to or for me – other than make me look cool, which, if you're trying to actually do, thanks, but I'd appreciate it more if you'd wait until I'm fully ready so I can fully max out how cool I look right about now. Eh, whatever. It's not like I can't work with what you've given me.

"Per-"

Pulling my right hand from the corresponding pocket, I open it outwardly, my open palm facing away from my body. An instant later, a bright blue light flashes begins to emanate from said hand and I feel an all too familiar, almost non-existent weight take form in it.

"-son-"

I open the newly formed object with an admittedly, gratuitously hammy flick of my wrist.

"-a."

Uttering that last and final syllable, I place aforementioned object, a pair of simple, frameless glasses, on where they belong naturally and I'm immediately consumed by a torrent of blue flame. It didn't burn me at all, it didn't radiate heat, and it didn't spread any farther than a few feet away from my body. Truly, barring some sort of symbolic meaning that I was too lazy to think about, its only purpose was to make people look cool, which I was completely fine with.

The shadow that had been sent to eliminate me and those with me materialized just as the flames subsided, revealing our true forms to one another and the world - the forms that we'd be doing combat in. …Ugh, that sounded way too chunni for my liking. I should really stop hanging around Zaimokuza. What? I do everything in my power to avoid him already? Whelp, looks like I'm going to have to stay even farther away from the guy then.

Anyways, the shadow had revealed its true form to me and mine to it, and I couldn't help but be unimpressed by what I was being shown, though that was a much more common occurrence than I'm sure most expected. For some reason, a lot of the time, shadows were a lot more intimidating in their sealed forms than their true ones. I've been fighting against shadows for about two years and I still couldn't come up with a reason as to why that was. Hell, the first one I fought ever, turned into a damn Pixie and they were basically the most unintimidating-looking thing in the world!

Anyways, to get back to the point, what the shadow had turned into was a dark-haired young woman wearing no clothing whatsoever, the only thing saving her modesty being the long, black-scaled snake that was draped over her pale shoulders. Instantly, I recognized her for what she was: a succubus. She wasn't just any old succubus, no. She was _the_ succubus. The first one ever. Lilith.

Oh, so this is how you're going to play, huh? Been a long while since I stumbled upon a _scene_ just to be welcomed with something that was powerful enough to be considered a mini-boss in a video game.

Smirking to myself at the prospective challenge this shadow posed me, I use my left hand to adjust the slate-grey tie that was tied loosely around my neck and then, the similarly-colored fedora that sat atop my head, making sure that the prior was loose enough to not be too much of a bother and the latter was firmly secured to said limb. After doing that, I stuffed both my hands into the pockets of the long, also slate-grey trench coat that sat open, over jet-black clothing that was so similar in color that, from far away, it was difficult to distinguish where one piece ended and the next one began.

"H-Hikki/Hikigaya-kun/Senpai…?" When I hear Yuigahama, Yukinoshita, and Isshiki suddenly utter my name out loud, I knew that it now was about time to start acting.

Turning to look over my shoulder at the being I already knew was there, I see the first ever manifestation of the mind, otherwise known as a persona, that I ever called upon. I remembered it like it was yesterday.

"Job…" Huh, it's time like this where I feel like I need to say some sort of cool one-liner. What to say though? Hm… Something clever, cool and is appropriate for my persona… "Eh, screw it. I don't have time to waste coming up with something cool to say. Just kill that thing, alright?"

 **-Chapter End-**

That's it. I'm done. Remember, go to SpaceBattles if you wanna see more, faster than everyone here. Be there or be square punks.


	2. Chapter 2

Yo, second chapter. Can't really say much other than it's finally done and go read this story on SpaceBattles if you want content on a quicker basis.

…

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I don't own anything contained with this story, ya cucks.

…

 **8/8/20XX (2)**

Job – that was the name of my initial persona. Having had his power to command for nearly two years now, it would stand to reason that to say that he was both the most powerful one I had in my arsenal and the one I was most comfortable with deploying in battle.

" _Hamoan_." At this point of our rather one-sided partnership, I knew the abilities of my Judeo-Christian based persona inside and out, like the back of my hand. So, that's why I decided it was fine to take a risk and devote the first action of this encounter to deploying a skill that was entirely chance-based. What exactly did the 'chance-based' mean in this scenario? Well, the skill that's name I just uttered just a second ago was one that could kill a single enemy instantly if it was successful… The problem being that it only had a sixty-percent success rate, which wasn't a great margin of success. Actually, it was a pretty awful one. Especially for someone like me, who liked to play video games as much as I did. Typically speaking, if a veteran gamer had the choice between an attack that could do 60 damage and hit one-hundred percent of time and an attack that did double the damage but had a sixty percent accuracy rate… They'd pick the surer bet of the two most of the time, which, to be fair, was for good reason. No one liked banking their hopes on something that might fail a good portion of the time.

Still, despite the forty percent chance of it failing and doing nothing, I told Job to use the skill, knowing that his luck skill was extremely high and that would, in turn, greatly increase the likelihood of the skill succeeding—aaaand it failed. Whelp. That puts a damper on the plans a little bit. Time for plan B. Put my arms up and brace—

Before I could even finish thinking that thought, I was sent flying back several feet when Lilith used the snake around her shoulders like a snake and smacked me just as I raised my arms to defend myself. I couldn't help but cringe a bit at the stinging pain that the impact caused. It was kind of like stubbing your toe on something, but a tad less painful and the pain was spread all around, instead of focused in a single area. I couldn't say that it hurt – not when I've had worse done to me, but I couldn't say that it _didn't_ hurt.

"Hikki/Hikigaya-kun/Hachiman/Senpai!" As I'm hit into the air, I hear the sound of my companions calling out to me with worried tones. I couldn't help but shake my head when I landed back onto the ground feet-first, using the soles of my feet to skid to a stop when I did so. Wow. Really? So little faith from the peanut gallery. Do you all honestly think that my flashy act was for nothing? That I'd be reduced to nothing after taking a single hit? Ha! Don't make me a laugh.

"I'm fine." I grunted back in response to them as I lowered my arms, all the while thanking the fact that I had managed to get them up and brace myself for impact before actually getting hit. It saved me from having to take a lot of damage. "Job." Once again, I turned to the persona floating at my side and he did the same to me, nodding his grey, balding head in preparation for another command. " _Makougan_."

At the sound of the command, the man with his lower body being entirely engulfed by a scroll began to glow with a bright white light. Our enemy, seeing that an attack was coming, visibly tensed her lithe body in anticipation. The smirk that popped up on my face in response was, of course, unstoppable. What else was I supposed to do when an enemy so easily played into my hand like that?

Waiting until my persona released his attack at the original succubus, I brushed the right-hand tail of my trench coat back and out of the way and smoothly reached for the object that was strapped to my side via leather holster, doing so just as I saw the succubus float out of the way of Job's attack and start shooting my way.

Looking down the sights of the M91911 in my hand, I began firing shot after shot at my approaching enemy in rapid succession. The bullets and the gun itself not being real and just the airsoft versions, the former bounced off Lilith, doing so with great enough force to knock her out of her charge and into a back flip that lasted a much longer time than it usually would, largely due to the fact that she floated in the air, instead of standing on ground like a normal being.

Seeing an opportunity being presented to me, I rushed forward towards my downed adversary, holstered my firearm and pulled the _other_ object that was strapped to my right side – a solid black, extendable baton – out from its holster in one smooth motion that took me several weeks of practice to get right on a consistent basis.

With a press of the button on its handle and a flick of the wrist, the blunt weapon in my hand extended out to its full-length, right as I reached my snake-bearing enemy, who was already starting to rise from her newly found position on the ground.

Most likely seeing my approach from when she was on the ground, Lilith lashed out at me with another swing of her snake whip, which I honestly still didn't understand at all. Seriously though. What's the point of using that giant snake on your shoulders as a weapon? It makes no sense at all realistically speaking! I know that you aren't a being that had to deal with being realistic to begin with seeing that you're a demon who gets her power from dreams and all, but still! Use something more appropriate, will you?!

Leaning to the side, I just barely missed getting clipped in the side of the head by one of the most idiotic weapon choices I've ever seen in my life ever. A downward swing of my baton-wielding hand to the top of the opposite shoulder later and the shadow was now looking up at me from a position on the ground; an uppercutting one to the chin and Lilith was lying flat on her stomach; and, finally, a full-powered punt to the forehead as the first succubus attempted to raise herself off the ground and she was on her backside. Man, I could practically feel the brain being rattled on the inside of the demonic woman's cranium after every hit that landed. What? I should probably stop smirking to myself after thinking something like that? It's making me look like a creepy sadist? Ha! I'll stop feeling satisfied by the sensation of bashing all of these shadows' skulls in the moment I learn that they'll do the same for me!

Wait, what was that? That's literally never going to happen in my lifetime ever? I'm giving myself absolutely no room to backtrack in this situation? _Ha!_ That's the point!

"W-Woah! That was freakin' epic!" I hear Tobe yell out from somewhere behind me – his voice filled with a mixture of shock and excitement. "Go, Hikitani-kun! Kick that snake lady's ass!"

"Y-Yeah! What Tobe just said!" It seems that it was now Miura's turn to send some words of encouragement my way, though I must begrudgingly (lol) admit that she wasn't doing a very good job of it. "Go, Hikio!"

Oi! Filthy riajuus! If you're going to be putting your hopes on my shoulders like that, at least do me the favor of getting my damn name right! Seriously, how hard is it to remember the name 'Hikigaya'— Oh, Lilith. When'd you get up from the ground and start charging up an attack?

…Hm, I should probably do something about that before she lets that—

"Job, null curse." Purely out of instinct and experience, I murmur that command just loud enough for my scroll-bound persona to hear it, managing to do so right as the shadow decided to release whatever attack it was charging upon me - an attack that I recognized as a _Mudoon_.

Seeing that Lilith was literally only a few feet away from me, the attack didn't take long to reach me and engulf me completely. Thankfully, Job had already started to shield me at that moment, so as the attack surrounded me completely I felt no pain at all. Ha! Thought you got the jump on me, didn't you? Don't make me laugh! I'm waaaaay too broken for something like that to work against me!

Slowly, seeing that it was going to take a few seconds for the attack finally subside, I holster my baton and switch over to my firearm, aiming it towards right where I last saw Lilith with both hands. Now, if this was a human target I was fighting against and not just a significantly much more powerful shadow, I'd be tempted to think that my combatant was smart enough to know that it was a good idea to not stand in the same exact place after a successful attack, but as it turns out, the being who attacked me was just that – a shadow that happened to be much more powerful than the rest.

The moment my vision was no longer being completely obscured by the succubus's attack, I learned that my previous prediction was indeed correct. _Pft_. Not wanting to waste any more time having to deal with this, I pulled the trigger of my pistol rapidly and emptied my entire clip into the unsuspecting shadow, resulting into yet another knockdown.

Already knowing that it was gonna take more than just a moment for her to recover from the volley, I decided to take my time in approaching the downed shadow, all the while reloading my 1911 before then pointing its barrel in between her eyes.

"Information," I demand from my downed enemy firmly as my thumb cocks back the hammer of my gun back, my voice taking on the hard and demanding tone of voice that had taken me weeks of practice to get just right. "Tell me what I want to know."

" _Pft_!" Just like always, the first time I demand never breaks the shadow into talking. _Sigh_. Seriously, one of these days, I'm gonna get a shadow to talk straight off. The fact that I haven't managed to do so in nearly two years' time makes it seem like I'm in a video game where the entire system of soliciting information is rigged in a way so that it _never_ works straight off. "Please _boyo_ , you're going to have to do a lot more than that to—"

Having heard the same spiel from a thousand different shadows, I cut the succubus off by sending an airsoft bullet right past the top of her ear. "Tell me," I repeat as I turn the gun back onto the shadow – this time, pointing the barrel of my gun at the cornea of her right eye, "or the next one of these bullets reaches your brain faster than my next words do."

"A-Alright! I-I g-get it! What do you want to know!" Seriously? You're just going to give up and tell me everything after the second try of all times? The _second one_? Why couldn't you have done so the first time? Was me threatening to shoot you right in between the eyes not intimidating enough for you? Did I really have to tell you that I was going to shoot you in the head to get you to break? _Sigh_ … You shadows make no sense to me sometimes.

Thinking over what I could possibly ask the downed succubus in front of me, I just then notice that my companions had all, at some point, closed the distance between us. They were all looking at me with the same questioning, shocked looks they were giving me earlier, but this time, they were much more potent with the emotions that they were trying to convey. Well, actually, I probably shouldn't say 'all'. Zaimokuza, unlike every everyone else (fortunately), was giving me a look like that told me that he thought he had just stumbled across a golden-egg laying goose.

Doing so in a fashion much like an owl would, I blinked at them and opened my mouth to purposefully say something that I'm sure would make me come off as an ass to them — something along the lines of 'what?' or 'that answer your questions?' — but was promptly cut off by the sound of ringing coming from one of my pant's pockets.

Already knowing who it's going to be, I let out a sigh and allowed my shoulders to slump down dramatically. Damn. First, having my birthday celebrated and getting other people dragged into my problem, and now I'm going to get yelled at by _her_ of all people? Can my day get any, _any_ worse?

…

No one can do anything on their own, at least not completely. There are challenges that you yourself cannot overcome with your own willpower and that alone. For a loner like myself, who would much rather that be the opposite, it was a rather bitter pill to swallow to say the least, but, despite my reluctance, I got a glass of water and downed it anyways.

In this scenario, the bitter pill I forced myself to swallow represented the person on the other end of this phone call, outright screaming at me with seemingly all of the emotion her vocal chords physically muster, "YOU GODDAMN, FREAKING IDIOT!"

"Oi, you don't have to—" I, not wanting my eardrums to cave in due to the tunnel boring machine that was the woman's voice when she was angry, immediately try and tell her to stop screaming or she'd come off sounding crazy, which resulted in me getting the exact opposite response I was going for.

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO STOP YELLING! I DO NOT SOUND CRAZY!" Wait, you actually predicted what I was going to say one-hundred percent accurately? How is that even possible? I know that you aren't a psychic or anything, which must mean I've said it enough times that she just expects it from me. Hm, wait, now that I think about it, yeah. That does seem entirely possible from someone like me.

"Yes, you kind of do right now." My voice is completely deadpan in tone as I reply. "Also, you should probably know that I'm not alone right now, and that those who I'm with can totally hear you speaking."

"WHY DOES THAT MATTER?! ALSO, YOU BROUGHT OTHER PEOPLE IN THERE WITH YOU _WITHOUT_ TELLING ME FIRST?" Damn. I should probably stop talking. It seems that my words are only making her more and more angry at me, which, under most normal circumstances, would be completely and utterly fine by me (the asshole that I was), but right now, I actually kind of needed her help. "WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!"

"It wasn't my intention to bring them at all," I retort as it was clear that she was actually beginning to believe her insult from earlier to be the truth. "I was out with them and I just so happened to stumble across a scene." I turn my head and glance over towards the group I was talking about, who were all giving me terrified looks. Yeah, I know how you all feel. She sure sounds terrifying, doesn't she? I mean, the speaker-function isn't even turned on and yet, I'm sure you all heard what she just said to me crystal clear. "Also, while we're on the subject, I need your help."

"Ah…" The person on the other end let out a tired sigh before continuing, "So that's what happened, huh?" Oi, stop that! Stop talking down at me with pity in your voice! I can already tell that you're shaking your head on the other end of this line, asking yourself about what you should do with me. "So, what do you need help with, Eight?"

"The scene I'm at, I need a basic idea of its size," I inform her, already knowing that she'll understand my reasoning for it. I mean, she was the one who taught me about the importance of a scene's size to begin with, so I'd be more than a little confused if she were to ask me for an explanation right now. "Also, I'd appreciate you telling me within a half hour if you still want to go through with that plan of yours."

"Mhm. Alright. Understood." After hearing what I needed her to do for me, she then proceeded to give me the usual cavalcade of generic affirmations she threw my way whenever I needed anything from her; of course, they were all delivered in the same uncaring manner that she always talked in. "I'll be sure to get you that info as quick as I can."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Mercilessly, I dismiss her vain attempt at assuring me she'll actually do her job. It's a good thing that I already have Lilith here to torture—shake the information out of, otherwise I'd be screwed six ways to Sunday, as people in the West say. "Just go and do it, Puppet, will you?"

Without waiting for a response, I hang up on the person on the other end and take a moment to glance at the group of people standing behind me to gauge their reaction. They were all understandably confused and curious as to who I was talking to, but I sure as hell wasn't going to tell them anything about that little arrangement. At least not yet, at the very least. As of this moment, they were all just innocent civilians who unknowingly got caught up in business that had nothing to do with them. I needed to remember that. Unlike myself, they didn't want to be here at all.

"Um…Hikki—?" Yuigahama was the first to try and say anything in response to what they just heard, but I cut her off before she could finish. Sorry for this Yuigahama, but I can't start contradicting myself just because you were the one to ask me first.

"—Don't ask because I'm not answering." Shit. That came out gruffer and ruder than I initially anticipated. Damn you, all the time I've spent fighting against shadows! I blame you for the bond that I've just shattered! You've gotten me so used to playing the role I've had for the past two years that the speech I use in my interrogations of shadows has slipped into my normal speech! What? That's a fact I've been aware of for a while now and have been passing the blame for my crass behavior in the past onto ever since then? Ha! I have no idea what you're talking about! I'm literally the most self-aware guy around and I know exactly when I'm just twisting information to fit my whims, and this wasn't one of them (lol)!

The lot of my companions seemed to be taken aback by the sudden bluntness on my part, but I just met their surprised looks with a scowl that said that there wasn't any budging me on the subject.

"H-Hikki…" Yuigahama trailed off, her voice coming out as a whimper that seemed to only bolden the flames that my earlier words had sparked. _Sigh._ Just my luck. Just drop the subject, will you? I don't have the time for this.

"Hey, what's with the sudden attitude, Hikio?" Miura, as expected, was the first to step up for her pink-haired friend: she always was inexplicably nurturing towards others, especially when those 'others' referred to her friends. "She was only going to ask you something! You didn't need to bite her head off like that!"

"Y-Yeah, that totally wasn't cool at all, Hikitani-kun!" Tobe chimed in with his own opinion on the matter after the fire queen finished giving hers.

"Hikigaya-kun, I can understand if you're currently under a lot of stress right now after all that's happened, but please understand the position—" Huh. There seems to be a strange trend of me cutting off my fellow Service Club members today because the moment Yukinoshita began trying to appeal to my reason, I did just that.

"No. That's my final answer. Stop asking." Not wanting to have to address any more protests from them, I speak my next words with a finality so strong it that could fall an elephant. "None of you know a single thing as to what's going on right now and I'm sure as hell aren't gonna be the one who changes that fact."

"What?! You can't be serious!" Kawasaki was the next to speak out against me. Wait, why did I just phrase that like that? Stop it me! You're making yourself sound like an unstoppable tyrant! It's fine if _they_ think that, but not you yourself! "You expect us to just turn our heads away and forget about something like this!"

I couldn't help but snicker a bit in response to that. "What? Of course not." I shake my head in a way hoped displayed the mixture of disbelief and amusement that I currently felt. "Calm down, will you? I was never expecting that of you at all. The last thing I want to do is come off as idiotic and unrealistic." Pausing as I turn my head to look at the succubus I was currently holding at gunpoint, I add on with a gruff chuckle, "I never said that I wasn't _ever_ going to answer your questions. I'm just not answering them now. Biiiiiiiig difference. Just make sure to keep them for when we're out of this place."

"What? But you just said—?" Kawasaki began, but I stopped her before she could finish misunderstanding.

"—I said that I wouldn't be the one to change the fact that you guys know nothing, which means, I'm only going to tell you if, _at the end of all this_ , you decide you still want to know more about what's going on. Now, until then, I suggest all of you keep your questions to yourselves for the time being."

"But Hikigaya-kun—" Yukinoshita began, before then being interrupted by someone I could identify solely via how much I wanted to send all of the airsoft bullets in my gun's magazine into his balls, after hearing what he just said out loud.

"But Hachiman, my comrade, look at what's going on around you! The unexpected transportation to another plane of reality while I was out for a mundane expedition; the sudden arrival of a monster that, before it showed up to attack, was beyond my comprehension; and the revelation that my best friend has been fighting against an unknown evil the entire time I've known him? How can I keep myself from asking questions when it's so very clear that this is the start of my very own adventure as a light-novel protagonist! Even my uncanny awareness of all these tropes playing out is pointing towards that fact!"

Suddenly, after the chuunibyou got his piece out, the hallway all eleven of us (twelve if the succubus counted) were standing in went completely quiet. I didn't know what the others' reasoning for going quiet were, but I assumed that theirs were similar to mine and that they went silent due to the sheer stupidity that had just come from the delusional, trench-coat-wearing kid's mouth.

"Ugh… Hikki's friend is really creepy." Yuigahama stated in a deadpan tone, pretty much stating the most obvious thing in the world.

"I must concur. That display was truly the most delusional and disgusting thing I've ever had the chance to hear or see. To think even someone as awful as Hikigaya-kun could be surpassed," Yukinoshita was quick to throw her opinion in the mix. _Sigh._ I honestly don't know what's worse anymore… Her adding that part on for no reason or the fact that I'm not even surprised by it.

"Hey senpai, that guy with the trench coat is your friend right? Ah, from the look on your face, he clearly isn't. I don't think he should be here if he wasn't invited. Could you please tell him to leave and never show his face to me ever again?" Woah, what the hell was that Isshiki?! That was incredibly harsh right there! Why don't you just walk up to him and tell him to go blow up already? _Sheesh_. What a mean thing to do. What kind of person would even tell people to blow up anyway?

"Anyways, as I was saying, save your questions for later," I say, ignoring all the feedback Zaimokuza got completely. Turning my full attention onto my captive, who was currently looking at aforementioned disgrace to humanity with a baffled look. It hurts that I perfectly understand that look on your face. "Oi, shadow, eyes back to where they belong or you get a bullet in one." Seeing her listen to my command, I ask her the question that should've been asked a long time ago, "Now, answer me. There a safe room anywhere nearby?"

…

Like always, making my way through the shadows that infested a scene took that a good deal of time and effort. The amount of time needed varied with the scene's size, but no matter how small a place's ' _Inverse_ ' was, the fact was that trying to clear it in a single day was an impossible task. The quickest I've ever managed was three days.

So, every time I stumbled upon a scene, I always make sure to thank whatever power decided to create the concept of the _Inverse_ for also creating a safe spot within scenes where I could stop and gather myself in. These places were known as – even by the shadows themselves for some reason that was barely explained to me – safe rooms.

What possible reason could there be for a place like that to exist within a space that was supposed to be dangerous for me? That, unlike the fact that most shadows were aware of the locations of the safe rooms in the area and never did anything about it, had indeed been explained to me. In great detail actually. However, the explanation had been given by Puppet herself, so the entire thing was pretty hard to get through, but I still managed to get the gist of what she was saying.

Basically, to understand the safe room, one needed to first understand what exactly a _scene_ is and, even before that, the concept of the _Inverse_ , as Puppet had called it when we had first met, needed to be explained.

Now, I could try and go over the entire explanation Puppet had given me in my head, but unfortunately, that'd make no sense to me since I myself was already well aware of that information and doing so would benefit me none. Oh, and also, last I checked, time didn't stop just because you wanted to think for a bit. No, time continued to flow normally and I currently couldn't afford to waste any as of the moment, considering I'm sort of trying to get out of here before a certain time.

"Come on," I say as I continue down the hallway before me at my usual brisk pace – something that I had developed and grown accustomed to over the past couple years going in and out of the Inverse – glancing over my shoulder towards the people who were trailing behind me. "From what Lilith told me, the safe room should be right up ahead." After finishing, I put my attention back out in front of me. "Once we're there, we'll be able to get you guys out of here."

"Ah, finally!" Isshiki groaned in her usual attempting to be cute way, which, just like always, only had a small effect on me. Even without turning my head, I could tell that my kouhai was most likely slumped over with her arms hanging, so that she could properly display her cute appeal to those around her. "All that walking was starting to make my legs ache…"

"Hah? You're really going to complain now?" For some reason, Miura decided to call my kouhai out on her appeal. Well, I say 'for some reason', but I already know why she did so and that reason had blonde hair and blue eyes. "Where was this ten minutes ago when Hikio asked if we needed to relax?"

What happened next could only be described as something I really couldn't give a damn about. I mean, it was a trite argument that was secretly over someone I've been on record hating more than anyone or anything. Why the hell would I even bother listening to such a conversation?

"Hey Hikigaya, can I talk to you for a second?" Hearing the delinquent of the group call out to me, I turn to look over my shoulder at girl in question. There was a look on her face that was hard for me to place, but I could tell that it wasn't going to lead to anything positive.

"What is it?" I ask Kawasaki, one of my eyebrows being raised skeptically. "Didn't I already tell you all that I wasn't going to answer any questions until we reached the safe room?"

"Um, n-no…" she shook her head as she answered, "…that wasn't what I was going to talk about." For some reason, her eyes were being directed down at the ground. Wait, are you embarrassed about something? The hell do you have to embarrassed about, woman? "I just wanted to… Uh, it has been pointed out to me that… that I might've jumped to conclusions a little too quickly earlier and I, uh, wanted to apologize."

Not knowing how to respond to her apology, I couldn't help but blink at the girl who, less than a hour ago, I forgot the name of. Not quite sure what had brought what she was telling me on, but I decide to not question it, shrug my shoulders, look back out in front of me and reply with, "Apology accepted." I let a second pass before asking, "Is that all or do you have something to else?"

"Well, yeah, of course, but you already said that you weren't going to answer—" Just as she was asking that, I noticed that there was a little difference in the hallway I was walking down – a little inlet in the wall that indicated a door being there – and stop in my tracks, causing Kawasaki to stop in her verbal ones. "What is it? Is there another one of those shadow-monster things?"

"Nope, just something with way too convenient timing," I say as I shake my head in disbelief. "Alright, before we move on into the safe room, I have a question I wanted to ask you." Turning to face the group I had been flagshipping for the past half hour or so, I ask them the question I'm sure they've been all dying to hear. "Who here, after seeing all that you've seen today, still wants to hear about what all of this is? If you're not interested, please tell me right now. I'm not going to waste time on you if you aren't. The moment we step into that safe room, I'm sending you back to the real world so you can go back to your normal lives."

Surprisingly enough, there was no immediate movement to do as I said and reject the idea by the group I had asked. Actually, none of them seemed to falter in judgement at all. They all just sort of stared at me blankly, as if there answer to me should've been obvious. Whelp. Looks like that answers that question.

"Seriously? None of you are even going to consider? Not even after seeing how dangerous doing this could be?" Not being able to comprehend the fact that they were all somehow okay with the thought of fighting dangerous monsters, I can't help but let those words slip from my mouth to get some sort of reaction from them, other than the blank ones on their faces.

"Well, Hikki, not to burst your bubble or anything…" Yuigahama began, but trailed off awkwardly as she looked off to the side, her hands assumedly wringing behind her back. Oi, if you're going to say something like that, don't you dare just randomly trail off before finishing!

"…But you really didn't show us anything about that one could constitute as 'dangerous', Hikigaya-kun," Yukinoshita, almost as if she was the more logical side of Yuigahama's brain, spoke on her best friend's behalf. Of course, there was no sign of awkwardness on her voice.

"Yeah, they're right, Hikitani-kun!" Tobe, who in the hell was talking to you and how the hell did you get so close without me noticing? "You were just wipin' monsters out left and right like, _BLAM!_ and _BOOM!_ , how are we gonna think doing what you're doing is dangerous when you kill them all so easily?!"

…

 _Sigh_. God damn my own overpowered-ness sometimes. Also, when the hell did Tobe get the ability to make good, logical points?

…

"Ah, so this is the 'safe room' Hachiman was talking about?" I hear Totsuka mutter to himself as he takes tentative steps to follow me inside. Huh? Why do I hear trepidation in your voice? Do you have something you wanted to say to me, young angel from above— I mean, young man? "For some reason, I expected something more…"

"… _Safe_?" Finished Miura for him as her emerald eyes her danced around the scenery that made up the owner of the scene's first safe room. Huh, if this is what a safe room looks like in this place, I'm definitely not looking forwards to what's to coming up.

Now, if someone were confused as to what I was talking about, I was making reference to how safe rooms inside scenes — just like the scenes themselves — were a direct representation of a certain part of the owner's life. Representation of what? Well, it could be boiled down to this one word: memory.

When I step onto a scene, I was basically taking a step into their memories and when I tore through shadow after shadow, I was fighting personal demons that the owner had during that specific time, and when I stepped into a placed referred to as a 'safe room' I was stepping into a place that the person themselves thought to be safe, stable, whatever other adjective you wanted to use to describe such a place. To make a long story easier to read, one could describe it as the person's happy place.

So, if I was in such a place, why was I worried about the rest of this scene? A place that could be considered 'happy' shouldn't ever ilict such trepidation from someone, right? Well, thinking that would be completely wrong. Think about it like this, just like how one's opinion of quality can differ, one's opinion of what is 'happy' can be different as well and as it turned out, the owner of the scene's opinion on what is 'happy' was one that seemingly none of my group could relate with, which was most definitely a good thing.

The room… I found describing it to be tremendously difficult. Not just because of the contents of the room, but also because of the feeling that the room was giving off. One could practically feel isolation and loneliness radiating from the walls like heat from a radiator. Couple that with how empty and bare the room was in terms of decor and I'm sure that my earlier feelings of trepidation were explained.

To have this sort of place be the place in which you found your most happiness, this early into their lives? More often than not, it was a sign of what's to come. Not wanting to waste time getting to the explanation about more important things, I quickly relay the information that I went over in my head to my companions. Thankfully, they all listened to me intently as I spoke and waited until the end to ask questions.

"So, what you're saying is that this place is…someone's happy place?" Hayama asked me with a complicated expression on his face, his fingers cupped around his chin. "I can't believe that someone would find a place like this—"

"—Well, start believing it then." Knowing that letting him go down this avenue of conversation would only lead to more questions of the same nature, I cut the riajuu off before he could finish. "The faster you do that, the easier this job is."

"'Job'?" Hayama asked with an owlish blink of his eyes.

"Yeah, job," I affirm with an upward tilt of my chin, turning to face the my ant-thesis as I do so. "What? You think I go into these sorts places with no objective or reason? I do it because I have to, because these people aren't going to be fixed otherwise." As I speak, I realize that I'm probably lying this information on rather thick and over aggressively, but I go with it. If me fighting the shadows out there won't convince them that learning about this dimension is an extremely dangerous proposition, this certainly will get that through to them. "What you saw out there, me 'killing those shadow-monsters left and right', wasn't something that came easy. _That_ was the result of me going into places like this for the past two years. Fighting shadows that were, relatively speaking, proved much larger challenge than those I faced out there, and going into places much darker and more depressing than even a place like this."

As I finished speaking that last line, my phone started to ring out loudly once again. Ah, good. That must be Puppet. I can use her to help me explain this all to them. Pulling my phone out from my pants pocket, I look at the screen and decide to hold from answering the call so I can say, "Why would I even bother going through so much trouble? Well, because it's my job to fix people when they themselves cause their own problems." Sliding the bar across to pick up Puppet's call, I add, "So please, take that into account when you hear me and Puppet's explanation. It'll be your last chance to back out of this," I activate the 'speaker' function on my phone, "and I don't want you making a decision you're going to regret."

…

"Ah, so you want me to give all your friends the explanation I gave you two years ago, when you first started out?" Puppet asked me, a curious undertone to her voice. Why? I'm not entirely sure. I'm sure that I voiced my request in a way that could only be described as clear and concise. I really have no idea as to why she would ask me a question like that. "Finally giving in and heeding my advice from all those years back, huh?"

What advice was she talking about? Well, at some point - 'some' of course meaning 'many' in this one instance - during my first few months of fighting shadows and 'solving cases' as Puppet liked to call it, I was bombarded with constant reminders by those helping me along my journey to go out and find people to help me do my job. Of course, they always made sure to preface their imploring with a reminder that not just anyone would be able to become like me and awaken a persona, which had immediately become my excuse as to why I didn't even attempt to go looking. I believe it went something like: "Why would I bother wasting time searching for a needle in a haystack when I can just focus on honing my own power and solving cases?" At first, they tried to argue against my point, saying that allies would allow me to delegate responsibilities and get more done, but after a while of me not ever budging, they simply resigned themselves to the fact that I didn't people want endangering their own lives doing a job I could do on my own.

Wait, did I just accidentally reveal my reasoning as to why I decided to do this job on my own prematurely? Wait, no, I forgot that I'm only saying this in my head and no one can hear me. Good. I can still reveal this information in a more dramatic way like I had initially planned.

"First off, no, I believe I already told you as to why they're all here." Not quite liking the matter-of-fact edge her voice had taken on suddenly, I remind her of my earlier words as quickly as possible. "Secondly, hurry up and get on with the explanation already. I thought there was something you still wanted to take care of after this."

"Fine, fine, I'll do it." Wow, I can practically feel your smugness coming from the speaker on my phone. I bet you must be real happy, glorified tool I'm using to make my life easier. You're lucky that I need you for that because I would've said that out loud instead of in my head. "Alright, all those that are currently with Eight, listen up." All my new, potential allies stiffened at suddenly being referred to. "Do you know the monsters that Eight fought?" They all nodded. Yes, good idea guys! Nod in response to the person you're speaking to over the phone! That'll really get your message across! "Those are called shadows. Think of them as the physical manifestation of humans' negative emotion. They like to take the shape of mythological and famous characters in literature."

"Now, in ways, they are both similar and different to the being I summoned earlier to fight with me." Willing said being into existence, I gestured over to where he should be hovering. "This is a persona. Just like shadows, they take the form of mythological and famous characters in literature. Unlike them, the emotions they represent are much more positive. To be specific—well, at least in my case—they are meant to be the manifestation of the user's self awareness."

"Self…? Awareness…?" Yuigahama repeated with her head tilted slightly to the side, very clearly confused.

"What Eight means is that personas are basically meant to represent how you personally see yourself," Puppet answered the pink-haired air head on my behalf, something that I was grateful for as that was really the extent of my knowledge. "So, since Eight's first ever persona was Job," hearing aforementioned persona being mentioned by name, I decide to summon him to help add effect to what my advisor was saying, "one can assume that he sees himself as someone who can very closely relate to the character himself."

Glancing up to the ethereal being floating over my shoulder and giving off a prominent grey aura as he floated there in his usual sagely silence, my mind subconsciously going back to when he first reached out to me and very literally saved my life. Once again, thank you, skeletally-thin, grey-bearded, balding, rag-that-barely-fit-him-covered old man coming out of a scroll, who I use to murder monsters. I know that you already know this as you reside within the persona sea in my mind and all, but I owe you my life. Never forget that. I'm never saying any of this to you out loud, by the way. I got a rough, tough and gruff exterior I need to fit here.

"Woah… Hachi-bro, that thing is so cool…" Tobe stated, his voice filled with wonderment as he trailed off. Oi, what did you call me just then? Hachi-bro? Why did you just completely butcher my given name like that? Are you having a stroke or was that your attempt to signify our closeness without flat out saying my first name? _Sigh._ Well, at least he managed to get my name somewhat right this time and you aren't absolutely drooling over my persona like Zaimokuza is over there, so I guess you're fine.

"So, what you're saying is that thing floating next to Hikigaya-kun is a representation of how he used to see himself?" Yukinoshita asked, her voice gaining an almost unnoticeable tremble in it as she spoke. I could tell that, unlike the rest of the people with us, she was able to come up with the reasoning behind why Job of all figures was my initial persona. "Why—?"

Already knowing the question the ice queen was going to ask me and not being comfortable with answering it, I cut her off before she could do so, answering the question that she had asked before instead as to draw attention away from the last word that came out of her mouth, despite it very clearly being rhetorical in nature, "Yeah, that's exactly what she said. What? You didn't get that from what she told you?"

The girl in question glared at me in response to my interruption, but I know that it wasn't the interruption itself that earned me her ire. Still, I kept my gaze locked with hers, stating with my eyes alone that I wasn't going to budge on the subject. Sorry, but that isn't the kind of information I'm going to give out to just anyone. It's _way_ too personal of a story. It involved me having and dealing with emotions that I've long since done away with, and I'd rather not trudge such emotions up to the surface if I didn't need to.

Probably realizing that she wasn't going to win the stare down we were having, Yukinoshita let out a sigh and turned her attention back to the phone in my hand as Puppet's voice started to come from it once more. _Phew._ That was a bullet dodged.

"Alright, now that we have personas covered, let's move on to what exactly this place you're in is and the most likely reason as to why you're all here," my advisor stated, an audible clacking noise coming through from the other side of the call before she continued. "So, do you remember how I said that shadows are the manifestation of negative human emotion?" They all nodded once again. What did I just say about the nodding?! "Well, the place that you're all currently in, the one that you got dragged into when you stepped into that karaoke place, is sort of like that, but different in a single way." Just like the master show-woman she claimed herself to be, she timed the pause in her long-winded explanation perfectly, leaving my comrades on the end of their seats. …Figuratively speaking, of course. "However, this place isn't the only one of its kind. No, far from it! There are many of them in this realm, and they and the very dimension they reside in are all by-products of human _experience_. To put it simply, this place is made to represent the memories of the entire city's populace!"

…

Silence and confused looks were the only things that met my advisor in response to her explanation. Well, she wouldn't know about the confused looks, but still. Oi, Puppet! Would you stop contradicting yourself! You _just_ picked up after me when I got too caught in what I was saying and said something that these people never would've understood! You can't go and do the same just a few minutes after! It makes us look incompetent!

"What my advisor is trying to say, is that we are currently on another plain of reality and we call this plain of reality, the _Inverse_ ," I fill in on the behalf of my only actual comrade in the _Inverse_ , as an attempt to maintain our image in my schoolmates' eyes. "Now, before one of you asks, no, we do not call it 'the _Inverse_ ' just because it's supposed to be the parallel of Chiba at all. We actually call it that for another, more simple reason." As I continued to explain, I feel the sudden want to wave my arms around as I spoke to help get my point across. I, of course, didn't do that due to already knowing how hammy I would look doing so and the last time I checked, I wasn't leading a revolution her, which would be the only scenario I would ever considering embracing the ham. "You see, as Puppet said, this place is supposed to be the representation of all of Chiba's residents, but collected into one, single place. Knowing that, one could say that we're _in_ side the memory banks of all of Chiba. Hence the name."

The entirety of my explanation left my unwilling companions to give me blank stares. Clearly, they were not at all impressed by what I had just told them – as was I two years ago when I had figured out that the name given to the other dimension was nothing more than someone's sorry attempt at wordplay – but, despite that, I knew I still had their full attention now.

"Now, within the _Inverse_ , there are many places that you'd all find very interesting, but seeing as you are not in need of such information quite yet, I'll narrow it down to the two most important:" I raised a closed fist to about chest level as I began to list said two off, extending a finger with every place that I listed off, " _crime scenes_ – we like to call them 'scenes' for short – and the place outside of scenes." Lowering my fist, I continued on, "First off, we'll talk about the latter, seeing that it's the quickest to explain. The world outside scenes? To put it simply, don't even try walking it unless you're fully prepared for what's coming. You don't need to go out there to get to scenes and, as the outside is made up of the memories of people that couldn't form a scene, it's also completely and utterly infested with shadows. More likely than not, they aren't always as powerful as the ones that pop up at a scene like this, but the sheer quantity makes it a hard place to try and maneuver around in. Think of it like swimming around a pool full of razor blades."

"A _Crime Scene_ , on the other hand, are a different matter entirely." I take a deep breath as I begin speaking on the next topic, "Just like the rest of the _Inverse_ , they're created from the memories of people, but unlike the streets outside this place, everything about a scene is based upon a _single_ person's memory, or more specifically, the bad ones."

"Wait, so you're saying that the bad memories of a single person created a place like this?" Miura asked, her face showing a clear irritation at her own inability to process all the information being thrown at her. "What makes them so special that they get a place separate from everyone else? Everyone has bad memories, right?"

"True, but I never said _that_ was the reason scenes popped up," I countered immediately, having already foresaw such a question being asked. "All I said was that they're supposed to represent them. What brings them into reality is something different entirely."

"So, what is it then?"

"Well, you could say that a scene is first created when there's a certain lack of… _communication_. That meaning, before the inception of the scene, the owner errs in communication so badly that it throws their entire lives into utter chaos, which brings us to my purpose being here and fighting shadows." I let the feeling that me ceasing my explanation build upon itself for effect. Extending my hands out to my sides, I tell them my objective with all of this, "What I do is…" I can't help but smirk sadistically as I finish what I'm about to say, "…get them to confess their crimes."

Guessing from the visible discomfort that my words and actions instilled in them, I guess my attempt at persuading them to forget about all they've heard today was a success—

"Eight! What are you doing trying to scare them by making what we do look bad?! You know that the only reason we do all this is to help disadvantaged people clear up misunderstandings with those they care about! Stop being such an insufferable loner and tell them the truth!" Puppet! What the hell are you—?! "Hey, you all! Don't listen to Eight, he's just trying to scare you into not joining him because he cares about all of your safety! We of the _Scarlet Strand Detective Agency_ aren't ruthless enforcers! We help people like ideal detectives, I swear!"

…

Inhale through nose. Exhale through nose. Stay calm.

…

…Goddammit. I can't help but massage the bridge of my nose as I curse to myself silently. Damn you so much, Puppet…

" _Master, how many times must I remind you? It makes me uncomfortable to use our lord's name in vain like—_ "

"— _Now isn't the time, Job!_ "

…

 **Chapter End.**


	3. Chapter 3

Yo, third chapter is here. So quick? Yep.

…

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** I don't own either of these series or whatever the copyright fucks wanna hear.

…

 **8/8/20XX - Evening**

…

A sigh involuntarily escaped my mouth as I dragged my tired body into the tiny, little office that I had been rewarded with after awakening my persona and clearing my own scene. As per usual, my eyes scanned the empty walls that made up my room, all of which being covered by the same, faded slightly off-white wallpaper that contrasted greatly with the dark wood that made up the floorboards.

Trudging over to one of the few pieces of furniture that my office contained, I pulled the real-leather office chair out from under my desk's undercarriage and plopped myself down onto it with a breath of relief, taking a moment to relax my muscles before propping both my feet up onto my desk – which really was just an overrated footstool – while also folding my arms behind my head. Ah, to assume the classic pose of a rough and gruff detective… Is there anything in the world that could be considered more satisfying?

My eyes being firmly planted onto the wooden ceiling that sat above me, I begin to go over all that's happened to me today, letting out another sigh as I do so. For the past couple years, I've been fighting shadows and using my detective work to clear up instances of miscommunication in secret, all by myself. After today, that secret was out and I now had ten or so people who were currently thinking about joining me in my mission. Oh, how so much of my life has changed in less two hours. I couldn't help but relate it to my first day ever in the _Inverse_. The only difference was that nothing about today was going to dramatically change the way I thought about myself and the world around me, unlike the latter.

" _Thinking about today's events master?_ " Job asked me, his gravely, yet strong voice resonating within my head as it usually did. " _Any regrets you would like to relay to me?_ "

" _No, I'm fine,_ " I tell him back mentally as I shift a little in my seat to get a little more comfortable. I wasn't even lying either! " _Can't really regret something when what causes it is something that's completely out of your control. Just trying to pass time until Puppet gets back here._ "

" _Ah, right. I must have forgot. You had business with Master Puppet. Did she ever tell you as to what exactly she was talking about?_ "

" _No. Hopefully it doesn't take too long. I would like to get home so I can celebrate my birthday with Komachi. I'm sure that she has_ something _prepared for it and I would like to shower her with points for her efforts._ "

" _Ah, right. I shall leave it you to your thoughts then, Master Hikigaya._ _Oh, and happy birthday. Please give Master Puppet my regards._ "

" _Thank you, Job. I'll be sure to do that._ "

With that, the only being in the world that I could hold a civil, intelligent conversation with left back to the sea of souls where he resided. Doing so just as the door to my office burst open and revealed the very person I was waiting for.

"Happy birthday, Eight!" My eyebrow twitched as Puppet screamed that out, doing so in a way that reminded me of a certain little sister of mine. Normally, experiencing someone mimic the one person I valued more than anything in the world would annoy me, but I couldn't muster the feeling towards my advisor. I had a feeling that her looking and sounding like an exact copy of my little sister – except for being made up with a lot more wooden parts – had something to do with that. "Look what I got you~! A cake! Oh, I bet this is going to earn me a ton of points!"

Yep. I was right. Way too much like my little sister to ever really muster hate for.

…

In terms of beings with weird supernatural beings I was in contact with, Puppet easily topped the board in terms of overall strangeness. To put it in basic terms, the girl actually was just a full-blown Puppet. Yeah, I'm not even sensationalizing the fact or anything. She was literally just a walking, talking puppet – her body was made of wood and everything.

Now, if someone were to ask me about how exactly a puppet had managed to attain status as a completely sentient creature, I would really have no idea as how to answer them. Not because I myself didn't know the answer, but because she, the being in question, too lacked an answer to the very same question. She apparently just started existing at some point. No prompt or warning, just… _POOF!_ Sudden creation!Not that I was complaining about her existing or anything, especially when she was holding free cake right in front of my face.

"Well, do you like it~?" Puppet asked as she flashed me a cute, wooden smirk, her eyes slits closed as she did so. "I got the recipe from the real world. It even has a can of MAXX Coffee mixed into the batter and everything~."

Taking it from her wooden, almost mitten-like hand, I take the fork that was on the same plate as the cake and stab into the chocolate-brown dessert, ripping a chunk out and placing it into my mouth. The moment I did so, my mouth was assaulted by an all too familiar sickly-sweet taste and I felt a smile crawl onto my lips.

"I'm assuming that you like it?" Puppet asked me as I continued to chew the piece that was in my mouth. Seeing as my answer to that question was pretty much obvious, I kept silent and kept on eating. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then."

The Komachi-expy standing in front of me then proceeded to go silent as she watched me eat the dessert she made me. I'd be weirded by the display out if I wasn't enjoying the thing she was so proud about. Thank you for that, by the way.

"So," I begin to speak, my mouth still semi-full with cake, "did you call me out here on my birthday just for this or was there something else you wanted to discuss?" Swallowing what was in my mouth, I continued to speak, "I do have a family I need to celebrate with, you know?"

"Ah, don't you worry your little head about it," she reassured me, raising one of her hands to pat me lightly on my hat-covered head. "It's nothing important, so I'll be sure to get to it sometime later date. Just sit there and finish your cake for now, Eight~."

Shrugging and nodding my head to the side nonchalantly, I do as she asked me and finished my what was left of my cake. Huh… Looking around at my surroundings and current situation. _This_ was definitely not how I was expecting to end my day today after all that happened. For some reason, I expected something more… _weighty_ to happen - something that would make things more interesting. Typically, in a narrative aspect, something like my last couple of hours would've been to be considered a plot set up and this, the following scene, would've been the scene where the author could have characters be vague and ambiguous about things that sound important as to hint towards any future plot points he/she needed set up, but it looks like right now wasn't one of those scenes. Damn, and here I was going to try and use whatever it was to take my mind off all that happened today.

"Alright, I'm finished." I put my plate down onto my desk when I finally finished what was on it. Crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back in my seat, I asked the question that had been hanging in the air, "So, now that I'm finished, I'll ask again, what did you want to talk to me about? I'm sure you wouldn't call me down here just to give me some cake."

" _Wah_?! Why would you say that? Can't a girl just want to celebrate their friend's eighteenth birthday without being pegged as having some sort of hidden motive?" In response to that statement of hers, I simply cast her a blank gaze, not knowing if she was actually trying to slip something by me of all people. Even if your head is made up of all wood and largely unmoving in everything other than your mouth, that doesn't I can't pick up your emotions. All that I need to do is listen to your voice and I know what you're feeling.

" _Haha_ … I guess that it was hopeful thinking on my part to assume that you'd be too tired from today to care." Not really appreciating the stepping around my advisor was doing, I shift in my chair and put on a discontented frown – the same kind that I would use when someone that I was questioning was obviously giving me the work-around. I have to admit that a part of me feels a bit satisfied as this entire conversation plays out. All this points to what I had been anticipating earlier. "Okay, okay, I'll talk! Just stop looking at me like that!"

Ah…way too easy. It was moments like this where I wished I didn't absolutely loathe everything about cigarettes. I would be able to look so cool if I had a smirk on my face and a cigarette in my mouth right now. _Sigh._ Well, a man can dream, I guess. Oh, wait. Right. I should probably be listening to Puppet right now. Nearly forgot.

…

Chin being firmly cupped by my right hand, I considered Puppet's words with the same amount of thought I used to process all of the essential information I came across during a case. Basically, what I had just been told was info that very directly pertained to a case that I was currently working and it was less…than optimistic, if I had to say the least. "Ugh… _Dammit_!" I cursed to myself emphatically, pushing myself to the front of my seat, ripping my hat off, tossing it off the side somewhere and running both my hands through my messy hair in my frustration. "I thought for sure that was going to be our opening! We're running out of time to get her healed!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but it looks like your recent efforts in trying to get her to open up was only partially successful." I wanted to ask my advisor if she was sure, but I already knew a lot better than to ever question any of the information she gave to me. The last time I had done so, I made sure to make it my last time. Literally. "If you don't believe me, then I can show you the—"

"—No, don't worry about it. I believe you. I'm… I'm just having a hard time accepting it, is all." Usually, I would never be caught dead acting this way – all defeated and disbelieving – but I couldn't help it. Not when I had such a personal connection to the case. _Dammit_! Sitting here and feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to get you anywhere! Grow up and get started on a new plan of attack just like you always do! Shaking my head clear of my thoughts, I look back up at towards Puppet and ask, "Okay… Alright, um… Here's the new plan. You said that the way to where we need to be going isn't _fully_ open to me yet, right?"

"Yeah, exactly," Puppet nodded her head sharply a single time as she replied. "For some reason, despite your efforts in reaching out to her, she still refuses to open herself up completely to you and healing."

"Okay, all that means then, is that I just need her to open up to me fully by the end of three days, right?" I said that out loud, despite it being just an attempt on my part to reassure myself that it was actually possible. "Okay, so how do I go about doing that? I confronted her on the subject less than two days ago… I doubt she'll be in any mood to talk to me after—"

"—Hey, don't say that! You never know with some people, after all! You can't just go giving up on her! You know what'll happen if you don't heal her by the deadline!"

A part of me wanted to doubt what I had just been told and say that there was no chance of me being able to do anything before the deadline, but I knew better than to argue against what I was trying to do. That was the old me speaking. The me that lead me to have a persona in the first place and I long ago promised to never let him stop me from acting ever again. In a situation like mine, it was better to at least try all of the routes presented to me than to beat myself up over something that I wasn't prepared for. I just needed to remind myself of that.

"Alright, I'll text her; try and get some sort of meeting between the both of us put together; but then what? What can I do that I haven't already tried to get her to…" Just then, I realized what I needed to do to push her over the edge and I hated myself for it. Breathing in and out deeply and covering my mouth with my hands, I uttered the three words that could describe my feelings as of right now under my breath, "Fuck. My. Life."

Reaching a hand down into my pants pocket, I pulled my cell phone out and immediately begin to navigate to my contacts. My thumb flicking rapidly on and off between having contact with the screen, I scroll through my numerous contacts rapidly before then stopping on the name I was looking for: " ~Sagami Minami~ ".

…

 **8/9/20XX - Morning**

 **[3 Days Remaining]**

…

There were two halves to my line of work: the work that could only be done inside the _Inverse_ and the work that had to be done outside of it, in the real world. The prior extended out to any dealings with shadows, traversing _scenes_ for the clues needed to get the _perp_ to open up themselves for healing, and the healing itself. The latter side covered everything that dealt with getting the _perp_ to open up, be it to me or someone else, and acquiring all of the equipment I needed to operate. Explaining all of that, it was safe to say that I really didn't enjoy the second half of my job too much.

See, the problem with operating outside of the _Inverse_ was that, when I did something out in the real world, it actually affected the real world _and_ the _Inverse_ , as opposed to what happened within the dimensions of the other reality, which remained contained within the borders of said reality no matter what until healing took place. So, I feel that it should be pretty obvious as to why I disliked being out in my own dimension.

Still, it was an unavoidable part of my job, so no matter what my feelings were towards it, I had to go and out do what I needed to. _Sigh_ … Even when I really, _really,_ _ **really**_ didn't want to do what was needed of me. God— I mean, damn. I hate my life sometimes.

" _It's nice to see that you're finally learning, master._ "

" _Yeah, yeah… Just wake me up when we reach our stop, alright?_ "

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Another thing that I disliked greatly about the real-world aspect of my job is that it was a lot more unpredictable than the other side. In terms of things happening, the _Inverse_ was extremely predictable, after all. The only things that could happen in there that would actually surprise me were things like a shadow's power level and the _scenes_ themselves – things that I've long since learned to expect from all my missions.

In the real world, however, there were always a lot more variables to take into account. Take my current situation for example. I mean, how in the world was I supposed to know that I was going to run into one Tobe Kakeru while on the way to a mission? There was no way I could've! You think I know this guy's schedule?!

"H-Hikitani-kun?" Yes, yes, it's true. My name is Hikitani-kun. Wait, except for the fact that it's not. Actually, it's barely even close to half-correct. Please leave me alone until you get my name right, you god—I mean, _freaking_ riajuu. "W-What are 'ya doing here?"

Breathing in through my nose deeply, I don't hesitate in asking his idiotic question with one of my own, "What does it look like, Tobe? I'm riding the train to a destination of my choosing. Did doing that suddenly turn into some sort of crime while I was sleeping?"

"Ahaha, n-nah, 'course not, man! I was just surprised to see 'ya outside, is all! I've always pegged 'ya as much more of the homey-type, y'know what I mean?"

"Yeah…" Not being able to refute that claim, I decide to just give him it and move on. "Can't really say that I don't." Idly glancing over towards all of the nondescript people glancing over at the two of us, most likely because of the loudmouth that was in front of me, I give them all a pointed glare that made them all look away. "So…about what happened yesterday—"

"—Uh, y-yeah, about that…" Suddenly, the loudest of all the riajuus cut me off, scratching at the back of his head as he did so. Oi, don't stutter when you say that. I can already feel Ebina plotting some sort of multi-volume series about the two of us because of it. "Why'd 'ya have to kick us out like that? Yumiko totally threw a fit after, y'know? It was, like, _really_ scary, man. Like, really, _really_ scary."

"I'm sorry, but do you mind telling me again how Miura getting pissed is my problem?" Again, I decided to answer to Tobe's question with one of my own. This time, however, I spoke a lot more curtly. "Last time I checked, I promised that I'd answer your questions _after_ all you decided on whether or not you wanted to learn more." Slipping my hands out from my pockets, I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked at Tobe victoriously as I added, "And, last I checked, you didn't answer me then."

"That's because 'ya didn't let us answer before you kicked us all out!" Oi, idiot, quiet down! I get that you're frustrated with me and my antics (welcome to the club, by the way – it's very large and has many members), but people are starting to look our way! "How are we supposed to ask 'ya anything if 'ya go and do stuff like that?!"

Letting out a sigh, I stood up from my seat and closed the distance in between the two of us, clasping my left hand over my impromptu companion's right shoulder when I finished doing so. My head now about level with his own, I spoke my next words in a low, threatening whisper, "Tobe, I get that what I did earlier was rude of me and all – I truly do." I could feel said riajuu shiver a little under my grasp. It was safe to say that made me want to smile a bit. Wait, dammit. Wanting to smile in a situation like this isn't good. I think my sadistic tendencies are beginning to leak out into the real world again. That wasn't good. No, not at all. "But, could you do me a favor and perhaps _not_ talk about such sensitive information like that? With how loud you're talking, I'm fairly sure that even an old man living in one of the apartments right next to the tracks could've heard you loud and clear."

"Ah, g-gotcha," the loudmouth being threatened stuttered back in reply, nodding his head once as he did so. "S-sorry about that."

"Alright then, good to know that we understand one another." Hearing that response and being greatly satisfied with it, I pat Tobe on the shoulder once and plop myself back down in my seat, only being slightly disappointed that he didn't pick up on the reference that I just made. To be fair, I guess that I was being pretty optimistic to think that a complete buffoon like Tobe would be into something like American—

"Also, what was with that reference 'ya added in there at the end? Not to be mean and all, but it was, like, totally corny, Hachi-bro."

Wait, what? "Wait, what?"

"Huh? Wasn't that last part about an old man living near the tracks hearing me totally a _12 Angry Men_ reference?"

…Huh, who would've thought? Looks like Tobe has more interests than just being a filthy riajuu… Never would've guessed it.

"Anyways, about your answer…" Not wanting to waste time talking about something as insignificant as the movie references I make, I expertly changed the topic to something more of my liking.

"Ah, right! I'm totally joining you!" Damn. There was too much excitement and happiness in his voice and face for me to pass that off as a simple joke… He must actually be serious about joining me then.

Sighing and leaning further back in my seat, I then proceeded to ask the only question that I could ask in a moment like this one, "May I ask you why? Oh, and that you do so in a whisper?"

"Ah, alright," Tobe nodded as he said that, the volume of his voice now a low whisper, though it had the intensity of a yell. "Um… Well, I mean, like, you help people, right?" I nodded. "A-and, you also look really cool while doing so with that outfit and persona-thingy…" Again, I nodded back. Why are you so blatantly biding time by stating the obvious, Tobe? Behavior like that isn't going to get you anywhere, y'know? Out with it already! "I just thought that it'd be nice to be apart of something, like, y'know… something bigger than just…um, me."

"Aren't you a member of the school's soccer team?" Seeing a hole in his logic and totally not because I didn't want him to join, I activated one of the many skills I had attained during my time as a lone investigator in response to the riajuu's answer, meaning for it to serve as a direct counter: " _merciless answer_ ". I even activated the sub-ability that existed underneath the main one to ensure my victory: " _the head tilt_ ". Feel the full wrath of a lone detective who desperately wants to stay alone, Tobe! "Isn't that 'a part of something bigger' than yourself – technically speaking?"

"Well, y-yeah, but that ain't the point I'm trying to get at!"

"What is the 'point' then, Tobe? You're answering my question, but I can tell it isn't completely there." A flash of insult appeared on Tobe's as he opened his mouth. Most likely to refute what I just said to him. I didn't give him the chance. "Don't even try to convince me otherwise. Trust me, I know when a person's fully committed to their decisions and listening to you fumble over your words like how you were earlier doesn't match the criteria at all. Now, give me your real answer or I'm penciling you off as a 'no'."

" _Master, I thought you were trying to get him to drop the topic? Why are you suddenly trying to get him to open like he's one of your targets?_ "

What? Was I doing that? Shit! Damn you, force of habit! You've foiled me yet once again with your need for me to be a good samaritan! What's next, huh? You going to make me pick litter off the street? …Wait, I literally did just that this morning subconsciously, right as I got onto the train platform to meet up with Sagami and I didn't even notice 'til now? Shit!

"I… I…" Suddenly, the loudest mouth in Sobu high school was at a complete loss of words. Well, saying that wasn't true at all. I could tell that he knew what he needed to say and just didn't want to for some reason. I could tell from how he was trembling and how he had his hands curled up into fists. I was just about to tell myself that I was right for doubting him, but stopped when he suddenly looked up at me with conviction in his eyes. "I wanna be my own man for once."

"…And how exactly did you come up with that answer?"

Tobe suddenly smiled at me, laughing a little just before he answered, "I don't really know! It just sorta popped into my head all of a sudden, y'know?"

A part of me wanted to flash a smile back at him in response to the nostalgia Tobe's explanation triggered within me, but, thankfully, I had a lot more self-control than that. Instead, I just let out an exasperated sigh and shook my head disbelievingly at my newfound companion. Can't be breaking character after all of the effort I put in, trying to keep it. I mean, me suddenly trying to seriously get Tobe's full answer to my question fit under that whole 'acting out of my usual character'-thing, but I framed it within the character I was trying to keep up, so I should be alright on that front.

"Alright, now I believe you," I concede to the riajuu loudmouth, only doing so after hearing that last part about it popping up into his mind, by the way. In no way would I have been swayed by something like that normally, so he's just lucky that he said that last part.

Noticing that the train car was beginning to slow down for the next stop and that my next stop was the one I had been waiting for – all thanks to the landmarks that we passed by the train's windows and I took notice of in the corner of my vision as me and Tobe spoke – I stood back up, let out a heavy breath, and whispered to the riajuu in front of me, "This is my stop and I have something important to do involving a case I'm working that I need to take care of, so I'm going to have to leave. For now, go get my contact information from either Isshiki, Hayama, or Yuigahama – they're all the people you know who should know it. When you do that, call me in the next few days or so. I'll show you what it means to be an investigator like me."

The train came to a full stop right as I finished speaking that last word, which was absolutely marvelous timing on the train's part, by the way. Not wanting to waste time getting to the meeting spot I designated, I quickly made my way towards and through the sliding doors closest to me, on the side I needed to get off on as they were still opening, once again leaving Tobe no time to respond.

I have to admit… Doing that feels oddly satisfying. I wonder what it would be like to do something like when they're not looking in my direction at all. I bet it would be equal parts surprising and frustrating to whoever I do it to…which sounds really appealing to me honestly speaking… Hm, I should try that to someone sooner or later.

…

In an occupation like mine, wearing a mask, both literally and figuratively, was extremely important. I've put on so many that I've really lost track.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" The person who asked me that – the young woman with short, clearly-dyed red hair standing about twenty-five or thirty feet across from me – did so in the usual holier than thou tone she spoke with at the start of our meetings: this girl being one Sagami Minami. "I had to jump through a lot of hoops with my parents to let me speak to you, y'know?"

"Ah, did you? I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk to you about what you told me a couple days ago." That was my response and every word tasted bitter leaving my mouth. Sort of like if I had been chewing on a piece of plastic for long enough that it actually turned into liquid.

"Yeah… Alright, what about it?" That little tremble in her voice made me want to breathe in deeply. "Do you finally have an answer for me?"

"Yeah…" Like I said, I'm forced to wear a lot of masks in my line of work. "…I do."

Some masks I like and others I don't whatsoever.

"I accept."

What's one more to add to the latter pile?

"I'll gladly be your boyfriend."

…

 **Chapter End.**


	4. Chapter 4

Yo, another chapter this quickly? Yes.

…

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** You get the drill by this point. I don't own either series or Twitter.

…

 **8/9/20XX - Evening**

…

"How far would I go to save someone else's life?"

That's a question I'm sure everyone on the planet has asked themselves at one point or another, and I honestly feel like it was one that a person needed to ask themselves at least once in their lives. It was a simple, yet extremely important question dealing with one's personal morality: do you care about your fellow man enough to risk life and limb for some stranger on the street for essentially nothing in return?

Ask around and I'm sure most people would say some marginally different variation of the same answer: 'yes, of course, I would' or 'no, let them die for all I care'. If not and the person says 'I don't know' and/or 'I'd need to think about it first', then congratulations! You found yourself a person with a little bit of self-awareness and/or logic in their brain!

Call me whatever label you want to put on someone like me for saying something like this, but the fact is that most people who answer with a clear, definite answer to a question like that are commenting on a one-hundred percent, hypothetical situation and have never actually held someone else's life in their hands. They don't know how it truly feels to save an another person and they definitely don't know what it feels like to not be able to do so. So much went into answering that question that the fact I was even still sane after all the times I've had to make that decision was truly mind-boggling.

Earlier yesterday, when Puppet spoke to the ten that I had accidentally roped into all this detective business, she had mentioned that our purpose was to heal people. Tobe even mentioned that it was one of the driving forces for him to join me and the SSDA (Scarlet Sleuth Detective Agency). I honestly wished that she hadn't done that then.

It was never our _job_ to heal people. The word 'job', I believe, implied that it was something we had to do when that was never actually the case. We didn't have to do anything. It was just like that piece of litter on the floor a few feet in front of you. Yeah, it's a nice sentiment for you to pick it up and throw it into the trash, but what happens when that same piece of trash ends up in a landfill instead of recycled, or ends up in the ocean and kills off local wildlife? Sure, a comparison like that was a fallacy by nature as literal trash and a human life couldn't compare to one another, but it just illustrated my point beautifully.

When doing a job like mine – going into people's memories, getting them to open the very inner sanctums of it to me, and healing and allowing them the opportunity to get past whatever misunderstanding they made for themselves – one needed to keep in mind that this wasn't like a video game where failure was never an option and success was the only decent one. In some cases, I've found that the only decent option was to fail and allow what was going to happen, to happen. It was most definitely a bitter pill to swallow most cases something like that happened, but it was something that was occasionally necessary and I've long since learned to live with the fact. Failing to heal a _perp_ would most definitely lead to hardship for said person, but that hardship could also lead to personal growth. In the end, nothing was certain and a bad thing could come from something that was originally good, and a good thing could come from something that was bad. That was a lesson that I learned – albeit indirectly through another lesson of hers – from a certain sensei of mine.

Now, I only bring this up because of the predicament I found myself in with Sagami's _case_ \- a _case_ in which I had to make the decision of: 'is the sacrifice I'm about to make really worth it in the end?' It was essentially a _case_ where I had past experience dealing with the _perp_ (which are usually never fun, by the way) and also one in which, even before my stumbling onto her _scene_ , I had zero interest in helping said _perp_ with anything. After finding out, I found still myself reluctant to invoke myself with her. It was safe to say that I didn't like her or presence at all. Actually, I loathed her for everything that she was and represented, but that was beyond the point I'm trying to make - that point being, that despite my prior feelings towards her, I still gave her a chance. Not because of any goodwill towards humanity on my part of course, but because I had learned from personal experience that, with cases dealing with people that I didn't want anything to do with, one should save casting any judgements toward aforementioned person and remain objective towards them until the door to the locked-away section of their memory was reached. After all, a good detective always waited until the very last minute to make a decision on a _case_. So, after saying all of that, what was my judgment in Sagami's _case_?

Huh? I would've thought that the answer to that question would've been fairly obvious. I thought that the best way to help her would be to have her open up and heal her troubled mind, and was well worth any sacrifice, save giving my own life. Even if it was one of… that nature.

Whelp… At the very least, it wasn't an actual relationship with her that I was agreeing to.

…

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as I sat under the ever-judging, amber gaze of the woman sitting directly across from me, a piece of paper containing today's report being held level to her… um, bountiful chest in her gloved hand. She looked beautiful as always with her long, platinum-blonde hair falling messily on the perfect, pale skin of her bare shoulders, yet still somehow managed to sit on them on them in a contradicting dignified manner. The fact that her long, shapely legs were crossed over one another in a way that made their usual covering slide off in the most eye-catching fashion possible didn't make her look any less appealing, unfortunately.

Speaking of said cover, I was currently trying my hardest to keep my eyes pointed at it as it was at her mid-section, and looking up would lead to me getting unnerved by those eyes of hers and looking down would lead to an unnerving gaze of another kind that I'd also rather not deal with. The covering I was referring to, by the way, was a vibrantly deep blue dress, silk dress that went down all the way to her ankles and had a single black stripe wrapping with solid-gold lettering being placed over it, all of which together reading: 'M-I-R-R-O-R', right around her belt line. Despite the length of the dress, however, it still revealed quite a bit of skin as it lacked, from what I could see, any noticeable shoulder straps, back coverage for right up until her hips and to top it all off, there was a purposeful opening in her dress when she stood up that revealed the majority of her right leg. Ah, damn… Thinking about it is making me want to look down more and more… Ugh! Brain, would you stop it already?! I get it! You wanna see more! I understand! I truly do, but this is a matter of self-preservation! Quit being an idiot!

"Hachiman…" I couldn't help but curse under my breath as I heard her usual, refined drawl carry my given name out of her mouth to my ears. I would've thought the sound to be beautiful if it wasn't for the fact that she only ever said my name when she was frustrated with how I was doing things. "How many times must I remind you to not go on these philosophical rants in your reports to me?" She placed the report in question down onto her lap before continuing, "You unnecessarily adding all this filler is a waste of both our times, you know?"

"Ah, r-right," I stutter back in reply as I reach up and scratch at the skin of my cheek sheepishly. Yep. She's definitely pissed at me. Seriously, what's with me and writing things that make older women angry with me? Is this some sort of backward ass, natural talent given to me at birth? If it is, then I guess I should start looking into what it'd take for me to become a writer for the celebrity tabloids. I bet I'd take to it well, despite me despising everything about the business.

Being unable to stand the weight that the woman's gaze was forced onto me, I shifted my gaze away from anywhere near her and towards the rest of the space around us, deciding that it was in my best interest to focus on it instead.

If I had to describe the room that the of us were sitting in, I'd say that it looked a lot like the stage of a slightly more fancy version of the standard high school auditoriums I see in movies. Floors made up of long, lighter-grained hardwood boards; deep-blue, billowing velvet drapes coming down from the ceiling acting as a barrier between where the woman and I were and where all the people in the audience sat; and aggressively bright stage lighting being the only light source, which effectively obscured some parts of the area from view with complete darkness – something that I was grateful for as doing so gave me the ability to not see the things that would be visible if this dimension's master was actually present and the entire stage was visible. Right, smack dab in the middle of all that was the woman and me, sitting down on a pair of matching armchairs the same color and material as the separator to my left. To my right, there was darkness and the most standard office desk one would ever see in their life.

This place, it was called the _Velvet Room_ by me and its inhabitants. Apparently, it was supposed to be a direct representation of how I saw my own life, or the visualization of my sub-conscious, or some other symbolic jargon like that. I really wasn't paying attention the day this information was all explained to me. I was sort of busy having a near panic attack after suddenly waking up in a place that was completely alien to me.

Here, within the _Velvet Room_ , I did a lot of things such as: evaluate the personas I brought into custody for power levels; fuse together and break apart those same personas to make even stronger ones; and speak directly to my two biggest benefactors, a nasally-voiced man in a suit who currently wasn't present named Igor and his assistant sitting across from me – a girl that was aptly named—

"Darling…" the sound of said woman calling out to me with the usual nickname stripped me from the solace that was my own reverie, making me very quickly take notice of how close she had suddenly gotten, "…you do know that ignoring me like that isn't going to do you any good, right~?"

Still looking away as actually looking at her dead on right now would give me a very good view of something that my eyes would never escape thanks to the laws of phys-tits, I once again replied to a question of hers with an incidental stutter, "Y-Yeah, I'm just thinking, is all. I know better than to think it's possible to ignore you, Monroe."

"Then, why are you looking off to the side like that?" Suddenly, the sides of my chin were grasped and pulled to look out directly in front of me, where a pair of amber eyes met my own, though I had to admit that my eyes wanted to be a lot more concerned with the view of the bare canyon that said woman bending over to look me in the eye afforded me. "My eyes are over here, you know?"

Not wanting to even contemplate what she could be implying with a statement like that, I just marched on ahead valiantly, looking off to the side once more, this time with just my eyes only, "Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

 _Sigh_. Why must there be so many women in my life seeking to make me feel uncomfortable in my own skin? Oh lord, what did I do to deserve a fate like this — and, before you say anything, I didn't mean that seriously Job! Do not actually answer!

Without even seeing him, I knew that my initial persona was slowly shutting his mouth from within the sea of souls inside my head.

"So, by the way…" Hearing her speak, I turned my attention, and just my attention – there was no way in hell that I was gonna turn my eyes back to her – back onto her, "…what exactly is your plan to handle that Sagami girl's _case_? I noticed that you failed to mention that in your report."

Feeling a bead of sweat run down my forehead in response to that statement, I gulped in response to the question, doing so in literally the slowest and loudest way possible, despite my intent to do nothing like that. "Um…"

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"So, onii-chan…" Speaking of females that made me uncomfortable, the only one that I was comfortable with doing so, my little sister Komachi, called out to me as I sat in the usual silent reverie that I deployed whilst she and me, or in this specific instance, as all our family – my parents had managed to procure themselves one more day off from work for my birthday somehow, though I highly suspected that they took the extra free day for their sakes and not my own (not that I minded) – ate together.

Glancing up from the plate of curry over rice that my mother had made for the family while I was upstairs, giving my daily report to Monroe and looking to my right where Komachi is sitting, I give my little sister a questioning look, deciding to not say anything as there was food in my mouth and parents presence. Oh, and speaking of parents, they did the same as I did. My mother seemed curious about what she was gonna say and my father jealous that the first person she decided to speak to was me and not him. Ha! Better luck next time, you daughter-con of a dad!

"I was on Twitter earlier today and I found a photo of someone that you might find interesting~!" The moment I heard the way she was talking that I was in trouble. I don't know for what exactly, but I felt like that was going to be revealed to me soon enough. "The person who posted it online goes to your school, I'm pretty sure."

"Do I know her?" Swallowing my food, I asked that, trying my hardest to hide the slight tremble that in my voice.

"Oh, yes, I'm _more than sure_ that you know her." Okay, something's most definitely wrong here! Komachi-chan is acting all scary and I have zero ideas as to what caused her to do so. Just then, I noticed that my little sister's right hand was covering something on the table. It being multiple sizes bigger than it, I could immediately tell that it was her recently-acquired smartphone. "Here, I even have it pulled up right now." She raised her right hand up so that it was level with the ball of her shoulder and brought her phone with it, the screen of which facing my direction. "Now, my only question is … how come I've only ever heard of her now?"

My breathing immediately hitched when I saw the photo being displayed on her screen and I suddenly felt like dying a little. There, in full HD clarity, was me standing next to one Sagami Minami, a sheepish expression on my face as I looked away from my newly-acquired 'girlfriend' as she pressed her lips against my cheek. Over it, I read the words: 'Giving my new boyfriend a late birthday present~! 3 #GrtstGFEver.'

A million questions ran through my head before I realized something. Oh! So, _that's_ what she meant when she said she had a way to broadcast to the school the news of our newly-formed 'relationship'. Huh… I guess I probably should've seen that coming—

Just then, I felt my phone suddenly vibrate in my pocket and that made me realize three things. First of all, my parents were both looking at us with looks of confusion on their face as the phone was angled in a way they themselves couldn't see it. Secondly, Sagami was in the same classroom as me and a lot of other people I know. She is extremely popular within the confines of Sobu High in general, especially after I bitched her out up on the roof, that meant that there was a high likelihood that most everyone in our class with a Twitter account saw the post. Thirdly and finally, the last of course not being the least, my phone still hadn't stopped vibrating and the rapid-fire nature of the vibrations meant that there was no way it was a phone call. What was being sent to my phone were texts… All of which being sent to me in rapid succession of one another. Now, there were only a couple people in the world that fit the criteria of being able to blow up my phone in response to a post like that, which were knowing my number, having enough interest in social media to see the post, and also having close enough ties with Sagami to know her Twitter account. Unfortunately, that meant it could be either Isshiki or Yuigahama… Dammit.

See, now _this_ is why I hated working out of the _Inverse_ so much. Also, I want to die. Like, right now. Very, very badly.

…

 **Chapter End**


	5. Chapter 5

**8/10/20XX - Morning**

 **[2 Days Remaining]**

…

In my experience as a person whose mission was to get people to stop being affected by problems that involved misunderstandings, I've found that the biggest reason why these situations exist in the first place is a certain lack of communication with whomever the _perp_ is having trouble with. Be it the spouse who thinks his partner is cheating on him because they failed to recognize that the man that had his arm around his wife was his brother-in-law, or the primary school teacher who believed herself responsible for the apparent death of a student when the only person who really put her at fault was not the parent, nor the school board, but she herself. All of these cases stemmed from somebody who lacked the strength and/or courage to openly communicate their problems, which by no means was an easy thing to do.

Now, as someone who worked directly with people who deal with these sorts of problems, one would think that I'd be able to learn from these people and not fall into such pitfalls, but that kind of assumption would unfortunately would be an extremely wrong one to make. I was just as susceptible to such problems, as highlighted by my actions during Christmas time of last year. To put things into perspective and make my point more clear, here's a question that illustrated my point greatly: was a therapist incapable of becoming highly traumatized just because he helped people with the same problem? Was he not entitled a moment of weakness just because he knew of a bunch of techniques to help him through it? No, of course not. Everyone was human and having such things happen to us was simply in our nature. The concept of irony would not exist if such things did not actually happen in real life, after all.

So, now that I've said all of that, please Isshiki and Yuigahama accept all of my mental apologies as I look over each and everyone of your texts inquiring about the picture Sagami posted on Twitter yesterday with no intention of actually answering them. Well, at least, not of this current moment. This ruse that I've created with Sagami needs to continue existing for the time being.

Of course, in the long run, it'd be easier to just tell them about what I had planned and assuage their confusion/worries, but I couldn't for two reasons: the first being that I couldn't risk Sagami magically finding out that I told someone about the illegitimacy of our 'relationship' before I reached the door that was keeping me from healing her, the second being that I couldn't help but find their, Isshiki and Yuigahama's, responses become more and more amusing to me as I continued to not answer them.

Seriously, at some point as I tried to explain the fact that I had managed to secure myself 'girlfriend' to my parents and Komachi, and what exactly made me 'fall' for her despite my loner lifestyle, they seemed to go through all five stages of grief. At first, they were sending me messages such as: "Hikki/Senpai, that photo of you with Sagami isn't true, right?" to "I thought you two didn't get along. There's no way you'd actually become her boyfriend, right?" That then devolved into them angrily sending me variants of whatever name they liked to call me by in all-caps and fluctuating numbers of exclamation points and questions marks. After that, came all the "if you don't tell me, I'll tell Yukinon/Yukinoshita-senpai"-esque texts. When those finally stopped coming, there was a momentary break of about ten minutes before the wave of crying-face emojis and overall whiny messages crashed into my messages app. It took about five minutes, but they too died off before finally leading into a long stretch of silence that I could only take to mean that they accepted the fact that I wasn't going to answer.

When everything was all said and done, I had about sixty new messages – an even thirty from each. Truly, women are scary, stubborn creatures that should never be trifled with as I'm more than sure they're going to maim and/or kill me when I see the two — maybe three if they do indeed tell Yukinoshita about me ignoring them for so long — of them next, but I'm sure all of my pain and suffering will have been worth it for all the laughing I did last night… Wait, does that make me a bad person?

"Yes, seems like it," the voice of Puppet answered me suddenly, breaking me out of my reverie immediately whilst also reminding me that I was currently sitting at the desk of my office in the _Inverse_ with my feet propped up on my desk and my arms tucked behind my head. Blinking, I turned my attention towards where the voice had come from, wondering if the wooden Komachi-expy in front of me could read minds this whole time – an ability I would've appreciated knowing about a long time ago. "Good call on that, by the way."

Opening my mouth to ask what in the the world the girl was talking about, I stopped myself, remembering the topic we had been discussing before I spaced out as she went to check. It having to pertain to the Sagami case and seeing if the door to her core was open (really need a new way of referring to that), I couldn't help the smirk that slipped onto my face. "Alright," I begin, my voice sharing in the satisfaction that the news made me feel, "let's get to to work then."

…Hm, now that I think about it, that line really doesn't have the same effect as it used to. Maybe it's because I've already said it twelve other times in the past or something. Yeah, it's most definitely for that reason. Note to self: I really need to start investing some time in coming up with more lines to say situations like this if people are going to be joining the agency.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

The problem with Sagami Minami was that she was someone who had great amounts of pride, but that pride wasn't real. I could tell as much after the very first days I spent combing through her scene, which was spent mainly going through her memories of what seemed to be centered around her first days at school as a child. As always, the _scene_ told me this through some pretty obtuse symbolism with how the area itself was constructed, the kind of shadows that were put in front of me for me to destroy (which were all child-based in nature) and the occasional snippet of actual memory sprinkled in every once in awhile – though it'd probably be more accurate for me to describe them as extremely rare.

Take the very beginning hallway to the karaoke place as an example. It was a long hallway that seemed to stretch out for forever and was filled with nothing but succubi-type shadows and sirens. There was the occasional incubus here and there (which were literally nothing when compared to the rest of the shadows I had seen), but for the most, I only saw alluring women. That pointed towards a very cold, lonely childhood involving women that the _perp_ didn't believe they could escape. Maybe they even believed that becoming like the shadows I saw was the only option they had at the time. Either way, it was clear that the perp's _case_ wasn't going to be an easy one to get through.

Now, going back to Sagami's case, the beginning section of her life could be described as the complete opposite. There was color plastered everywhere; a warmth that I could only describe as comforting exuded from the fluffy, carpeted walls themselves at all times; and I almost got lost exploring the labyrinthian-like passages twice before finding the correct sequence of halls to find my way. That all then began to go downhill the moment the carpet walls and narrow hallways became a vast opening of cold, lifeless paper. There were literal stacks of the stuff that towered into the sky like they were skyscrapers, all of which gradually growing in size as they led up to one that was much taller than the rest. The shift had confused me greatly at the time, but the reasoning behind the change became crystal clear to me the moment I finished scaling the largest of all the stacks and found myself a piece of paper that depicted a family of three drawn with what was clearly crayon, torn in half. Not a second after that, I realized that all the papers under my shoes all had red pen marks on them.

After finally managing to acquire that first _clue_ of the _case_ , I was quickly able to piece together a strategy for finding out who the _scene_ belonged to — at the beginning of _cases_ , I usually go in knowing zero information about the _perp_ beforehand, so I would need to figure out who said _perp_ was before I could go any further into the _scene_ (well, that wasn't true, I could very easily continue forward in the _scene_ without knowing who it belonged too, but going out and finding out who the owner was before doing so was a good idea I've found, as it allows me to begin the process of opening of the big, locked door on the horizon proactively instead of at the last possible moment) — and I went about doing that.

It ended up taking me a full day of searching around the place I had found the drawing in, 'the paper tower room' as I had dubbed it at the time, to find something that hinted towards Sagami Minami, but I did eventually find it. It came in the form a memory snippet, surprisingly enough and within said snippet, I found myself looking upon a girl with short red hair, her deep blue eyes reading over a large book that she clearly wasn't enjoying at all. For a moment, she looked up from the book and towards a window that was to her right with a longing expression, before then looking back down at the book.

While, something as simple as a basic description of the _perp_ usually didn't get me anywhere in terms of finding out who it might be, but this time, I felt like I knew exactly who the little girl was and it turned out that my guess of it being Sagami just so happened to be correct this time.

It was then, after finding out that she was my next _perp_ and all of the other info that pertained to her earlier years, that I began to see just how fake that confidence of hers really was. I had, of course got a glimpse of it up on that rooftop after I basically reduced her to tears with words alone. If it was real, she'd try and refute all my claims, she wouldn't have broken down as easily as she did, and she wouldn't have had to force my hand in the first place by being unwilling to do her duties as festival-planning committee head just because she was jealous of Yukinoshita and her ability to effectively do the same job as her, but then times better.

As it turned out, underneath all of the pomp and pride that she carried with her like a purse, she was nothing more than a vain, base woman who was painfully insecure about her social standing, but saying that didn't mean I learned anything about her at all. I mean, I came up with all those insults the first time my eyes fell upon her, but all that I saw made me realize just how true that last one was.

All the time I knew her, I thought her to be the kind of person who was only insecure of her social standing because of her vanity and baseness, but as it turned out, it was actually the complete opposite: those two latter things were only a part of her personality _because_ of how insecure she was and the paper tower room gave me a partial reason as to why, and clearly, it had something to do with her parents splitting up and tests.

Thankfully, the next few sections made sure to inform me of the reasoning, as did my tailing of her in the real world uncover the reason her _scene_ was even a thing in the first place and it all mainly boiled to one thing—

"Hey, Eight, stop monologuing!" I nearly trip over my own feet when a sudden force hits the back of my head and Puppet's voice suddenly rings out right up in my ear. "We're here!"

"Huh?" Blinking rapidly to get rid of my disorientation, I turned my head to look around where the two of us were standing and found myself standing right in front of the Sagami family home. Well, the _Inverse_ version of it anyways. "We made it all the way here without running into a single shadow? That's oddly convenient."

"Yeah, surprising right? It's almost as if the entire _Inverse_ decided to leave you alone just so you could monologue or something!"

"…You did that thing with the strings again, didn't you?"

"Maybe~!"

 _Sigh_. Shaking my head exasperatedly, I begin walking towards the door of the _Inverse_ Sagami home, "You really need to explain to me as to why exactly you don't do that for me more," I told her while doing so. "It seems that it would be much easier to do so."

"Yeah, but think of the message that'd send to you, Eight! You'd get complacent so fast and we definitely wouldn't want that now, would we?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. _That_ 's the reason."

…

 **8/10/20XX - Afternoon**

 **[2 Days Remaining]**

…

"Hey Eight, mind if I ask you a question about that last scene you stumbled upon?" Once again, I found my attention being drawn away from what I had been doing prior to her sudden interruption, which in this case was me separating a shadow from its ability to live and breathe – something I'd rather not have my attention drawn away from whatsoever, even if the shadow that I was fighting, a simple nekomata, was one that I've seen a million times in scenes all over Chiba and could take apart with my eyes closed and hands tied behind my back. "Y'know, the one that you accidentally brought your friends into?"

Turning my attention towards where the Komachi-expy was lazily floating behind me (and not helping me at all, by the way), I shoot her a pointed glare that I hoped got the message of 'no, not right now' to her, before then also ducking underneath a slashing attempt made towards me and firing several airsoft rounds directly into the ascended's cats chest which knocked it backwards and also dropped her health significantly.

Of course, despite my direct disapproval of her doing such a thing, my advisor went ahead and asked me the question that was on her mind anyways, "Didn't that place's first stage seem off to you?"

"Well, yeah," I replied flatly as I quickly closed the distance in between the nekomata and I. Once I was close enough, I aimed the barrel of my trusty M91911 right at her navel and let loose two consecutive shots, which caused the pseudo-cat to double over and growl out in pain. As soon as that anguished growl was let out, I smoothly shifted my gun from her stomach up to her neck, placing the muzzle right up against the skin. I fire, but instead of hearing a gunshot, I heard the telltale click of the current clip in my gun is empty. Son-of-a… "The first thing I encountered my time there was Lilith." Ejecting aforementioned clip, I quickly, yet also calmly reached back and went to work on replacing it with one of the many I had prepped for this final run into Sagami's scene. "I'm not one to forget being attacked by a mini-boss at the beginning of dungeons."

"Hah? Was that another video game reference?" Puppet asked as I pulled back on the gun's slide and forcibly loaded the next bullet into the chamber, before then returning the muzzle of my gun right back to where it was placed earlier and firing off a single shot into the nekomata's bare throat. It dispersed into nothing a moment later, doing so right before she reached the dirt floor that made up this section of the _scene_ , which was pretty much a jungle (a metaphor for high school I assumed). "How many times do I have to tell you—"

"—That you don't get them because you're a puppet who's stuck in the _Inverse_ where you have no video games and thus, cannot play them or understand references regarding them?" Already having heard the same lecture over a million times from her, I throw them back at her face as an interruption with no remorse for her personal welfare. "How many times must I remind you that I don't really care if you get my references?" Shaking my head and holstering my pistol, I turned to the mainly wooden being and continued, "Anyways, how come you're suddenly bringing that up? I thought we both agreed to only discuss a plan of attack for there, only when we were done here?"

"Well, yeah, but as I was watching you kill all of these shadows without too much trouble, I suddenly remembered how much trouble you had when we first met and started healing people, and that then lead to me reminding myself of a possible scenario dealing with that _scene_ that I thought you'd might find worrying."

I can't help but blink in reply to the explanation given to me. Wow. Could you have said more in less time? I know that you don't have to breathe at all since you technically don't have lungs, but sometimes you need to realize that speaking so much, so quickly isn't going to get your entire point across any better. "Well? What is it then? I don't know if you forgot this little detail when you remembered the one you're wanted to tell me about, but we don't have all day to waste chit-chatting here."

"Just wait a sec, will you? This is really important!" The Komachi-expy whined much like how my own little sister would, thus giving me an added reason to actually shut up and listen. She was bent over and pouting and everything (well, as much as you can expect a completely wood puppet could do anyways). Damn you, being that is most likely borne of some sort of bullshit magic that will never be explained thoroughly! Why did that same bullshit magic compel you to take the form of the single person I could never resist?! "I promise you won't regret listening!"

"Alright, alright, but we're walking and talking, you got that?"

That was a question Puppet, thankfully, nodded in response to and like that, we were back on our way to Sagami's big, locked door.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"So, basically, you're worried that some of the people that accidentally got dragged into that _scene_ with me on a couple days ago might try and go back to it?" I asked in my disbelief, pretty much summarizing the entirety of my advisor said to me the last couple of minutes. My feet kept the same pace that they usually did as I spoke. "Now, why exactly would they do something as idiotic as that? They're not idiots. They aren't just going to wander into a place like that without me for no reason."

"Well, yeah, I guess…" Puppet trailed off as I felt her hollow, wooden eyes that had no color other than being a darker shade of brown than the rest of the wood, which resembled more of a character from a chibi-anime than that of an actual person's – something that I honestly saw as a good thing in as them looking like an actual person's eyes would've been incredibly freaky to see, "…but _still_ …"

"'Still', what exactly?" Woman… How many times do I have to tell you…? Could you stop trailing off like that…? It's annoying when you can just say what you need to in the very same sentence and don't… Besides, it only makes you seem marginally cuter in terms of appeal in my eyes… So, there's really no point.

"Well, what if they needed to find you for some reason? Like an emergency or something?"

I shot her a disbelieving look. "Last time I checked, phones still work inside the Inverse and they could just call or text me if something of that nature happened."

"But didn't you just spent the first hour of your day today, making a consistent effort to ignore their messages?!" My advisor asked with great deals of tired disbelief in her voice.

"That may be true, but I don't think I'm associated with anyone who's stupid enough to… Well, okay, maybe there might be _one_ , but usually, her lack of intelligence is usually corralled by her partner-in-crime's wealth of it. Besides, I'm pretty sure that they still have no reason for going there."

"I mean… but what if it turns that I'm right, though?"

" _Then_ , I'll be sure to rush out and get them out of there. It's not like this is the first time we've waited until the last day of a deadline to heal someone." I rolled my shoulders right as I finished saying that, flexing the fingers that were stuffed firmly down my coat pockets after I did so. "So, until one of them calls and tells me that they decided to go and be idiots, we're going to keep that to the back of our minds and continue on forwards."

"Gotcha, Eight! Will keep thought of the only people who would ever associate with you to the back of my mind!"

I couldn't help but want to grumble a bit in response to her obvious sarcasm as I passed by a pond that held a little fish flopping around, as there wasn't enough water for it to swim around. _Huff_. Cheeky, little…

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

" _Finally_ …" A sigh escaped my mouth as I drug myself up to the door I had spent the last hour or so of my life hurriedly making my way back to. Reaching into my pocket and pulling out the key I had gotten from opening Sagami's heart, I inserted it into the keyhole and watched impatiently as it began opening slowly and suspensefully. "We're here…"

Back when I first started doing this whole healing people thing, something like these opening would've stricken a sense of awe within me. Now? I could care less. I suppose that's the nature of most things. You like and enjoy them when you first get to experience them and then diluting immensely over time as you experience them more and more. Well, at the very least, the feeling of nervous anticipation that I feel going into these last sections never goes away, though that's probably to be expected. I did have a good deal of a person's life in my hands going into these things, so being a little bit antsy was probably best for my sense of humanity.

When the door was fully open, I didn't waste any time hesitating in dashing forward. All of the information I had gathered over the course of my investigation planted firmly in my head, I knew what I had to do, say, and where my feet needed to take me. All I had to do now was get there, which was always easier said than done in the final stages of scenes. They were the closest memories to the _epicenter_ — the memory that created the _scene_ around me — after all. Of course, it'd be tumultuous trekking for anybody who wanted to go in and mend any damage.

Things like stronger shadows, higher encounter rates for those much more powerful shadows, and higher rates to run head first into a _pitfall_ plagued the last stage of a scene, but that only made sense given the fact one of the biggest triggers for _scene_ creation was being wrong in a misunderstanding-type situation and not having the will or wherewithal to actually talk all your problems out. Other things could cause it, but the fact remained that _perps_ , a lot of the time, due to either ignorance or weakness, were the perpetrators of their own problems. So, the last line of defense before healing being the hardest part of the _scene_ to navigate made a lot of sense.

Aesthetically speaking as well, they, the final stages of a _scene_ , were a lot different from the rest of the stage. The personalized areas were now gone, replaced by an ugly, chaotic mishmash of pieces of their memories, strewn together by an unknown force, which was something I was thankful for considering I needed the clumped up bits of various assorted memories to navigate considering that the stage would literally have no floor if they didn't exist.

Jumping from piece to piece, killing shadows only when I needed to and avoiding them for the most part, I eventually made it to where I needed to be, the center-most clump of memory, taking about thirty minutes to do so.

How did I know it was the clump I needed to be on? Well, the all too familiar, red-headed figure standing with her back to me, clad in what looked to be an extravagant, white and red gown told me just that.

Unholstering my pistol, I pointed its sights right at the back of her head and called out to her, my voice commanding, "Sagami Minami, turn around now."

" **Oh, that voice! I know it! You? The peasant who dares point a gun at the back of the queen's head. You're that ignorant price of trash who goes by the name of Hikigaya, correct?** " The figure in the dress had fully turned around by the time she said my name and had been looking at me with the same yellow eyes all shadow variants had. Yeah, yeah, I get it. You have a power complex and don't particularly enjoy my presence. Join the club, lady. " **How dare you step foot into** _ **my**_ **domain after you dared to those speak lies against your ruler's name, you insolent pig.** "

Just then, a pulse of energy rippled through the air and the stage itself changed like it always did. Now, I found myself standing in what seemed to be some sort of Sagami-based throne room.

" **Just for stinking up my throne room, I feel as though you should be punished. Say, pig, how would you like to have your head separated from your shoulders?** " Ah, so that's the motif you were going for? The hearts on your dress make a lot more sense now. Alright, time to just wait for arm flourish and then the famous— " **Guards! Off with this pig's head!** "

— _There_ we go. Well, you said it wrong, you shouldn't have said the 'pig'-part, but it's close enough.

…

In the realm of RPG video games, which my life had clearly turned into the moment Job had lent his power to me, there were two kinds of fighting systems that existed: turn-based and real-time combat. The first meaning that you as the player picked what you wanted to do for a turn (it's usually some variant of attack, defend, skill, use item, analyze or run away) and then the enemy what they wanted to do for their turn and the two sides traded damage until one was dead. The second basically meant games in which combat happened free-flowingly and in real-time (pretty much just not turn based).

Both kinds had their own advantages and disadvantages, but if I had to pick my favorite from the two, I would have to say that the prior was my favorite. To me, there was just nothing more satisfying than building up one's character to ridiculously high levels of overpowered-ness and absolutely obliterating what the game put in front of me in three turns or less. Also, I found that in most cases, there was a lot more strategy involved in turn-based games than there was in games featuring real-time combat as, usually, the time the player had wasn't limited and they could just sit there for a few minutes and think about what they could do to kill the enemy the fastest.

Don't get me wrong though. Me saying that I liked turn-based combat systems more in my action RPGs didn't mean that I disliked real-time combat at all. I actually really enjoy them, as that style of combat allowed for greater difficulty and more emphasis on skill and timing rather than totally strategy, which were two things that I enjoyed having in my video games, but just not as much as I did strategy overall.

Now, one may be asking themselves why I'm thinking about such things in the first place and to those people I say, my life has literally become an RPG and I'm in the middle of a boss fight so I can commentate on the nature of types of combat in them whenever I goddamn wanted to! …Also, I kind of was in the middle of wishing that my life was more like a turn-based action RPG. Why? Me being in a boss fight and currently running down the hallway of some Victorian London era themed castle, filled with the brim excessively gaudy decorations. Hell, I was pretty sure that a lot of the things I just passed by in the hallway were made entirely out of pure gold. Something like this wasn't possible in a turn-based RPG. It wasn't possible at all.

"So, what are you planning on doing here, Eight?" Puppet asked me as she floated lazily next to my head. "You're going to have to do something more than just run away from that girl's guards eventually, y'know?"

"Yeah, I get that!" I snapped back as I turned the upper part of my body to look behind me and pointed my gun at the shadows that were chasing me and fired some shots at them mid-run. I'm more than sure that I didn't actually hit anything with them, but the bullets served their purpose of getting them, the shadows, to keep their distance.

"Then why don't you just destroy them all and stop wasting time?" My advisor groaned loudly as she allowed both her wooden arms to dangle from her floating body like she was a whiny toddler being picked up by their angry parent. "I've compared your power level to that group of shadow's behind us over four times now and I _know_ that you could obliterate them all with extreme ease, so why don't you? Or just lose them so we can go fight that Minami chick?"

The hallway I was running down ending with a dead end, I deployed all the agility that my body was capable of and turned on a dime, shifting the direction of my body so quickly that I almost stumbled and fell attempting to do so. "I'm not doing any of that right now because I don't have nearly as enough health to survive six shadows wailing on solely me all at once!"

"Ah, does that mean by doing all this running, you're luring all the shadows Minami was using as her guards away from her so the fight can be more even?" Yes, exactly that! Thank you for being smart enough to understand what I'm telling you! It would be a pain to have to explain the whole thing under these circumstances. "Why didn't you just say so earlier then?!" After she asked that, I immediately felt Puppet begin to slap me lightly on the back of my left shoulder. She next spoke as if she was chastise me for something, "I would've left you alone if you had just told me from the start, y'know?"

"And what? Have Minami overhear me and recall her guards?" Deciding that I've ran more than enough away from the throne room, I began to slow my dead sprint to a light run. "I'd much rather run for a good ten minutes than literally die — thank you very much!" I slowed down even more to a light jog, and then, a dead stop after giving my insincere appreciation to the wooden, magical being floating over my right shoulder. "Besides, I think that we're far enough away from the throne room anyways."

Turning to face the shadows that had been sent after me, who were all still charging at me, I reached up and pulled the glasses that were sitting on my face off, closing them with a small flick of my wrist and slipping one of the arms into the coat pocket of my dress shirt so that the eyewear hung from there.

Once that it was firmly secured where I wanted it to be, I reached a hand into my coat and opened my palm, waiting for the thing that I had in mind to materialize inside of it. The moment I felt the familiar weight in hand, I removed my appendage from my coat and held it out towards my approaching adversaries. It was a plain black, rounded rectangle – one that clearly contained something inside of it as there were brass-colored hinges on one side.

Using my thumb to flip the container open, I picked up what it contained with my free hand and flicked them open, before then using then to replace the pair of glasses that I just took off with another pair.

"Scathach!" I called out the name of the persona I needed and an instant later, a voice other than Job's rang out in my mind.

" _You called, master?_ "

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Sometimes when I'm out doing this job, killing shadows and healing people and the like, there were times where I really just wanted to lean all my body over onto something nearby and light up a cigarette to smoke. Why? 'Cause it would be the perfect way to look even more cool after I did something worth of such a distinction, but alas, I did not have that ability as I was underage and also had a certain affinity for despising any and all smoking products, so such a thing didn't seem like something I'd be doing anytime soon, which sucked because I just did something that would only be made cooler if I had the tolerance to smoke and pose like an actual, full-grown old-timey detective.

Anyways, what Puppet had said about me being strong enough to easily destroy all of the shadows that had been sent after me turned out to be true as I was finished with all six of them within five minutes.

" _Good job, Scathach,_ " I told my deathly pale, almost blue-skinned persona as she floated over my shoulder next to me. Her jet-black, form-conforming clothing, which included a hat and shawl that covered the top part of her face, only accentuated her skin even further by being both revealing — her lower half was literally just a thong — and also was a complimentary color to the blue of her skin.

" _You're welcome,_ " my mental cognition of the old Celtic warrior replied with a nod of her head. " _Is this all you needed me for or are you planning on deploying me further?_ " Strangely, that question was not asked as if it were a question. It was done more so, in a way that was both elegant and also demanding. " _If I had to suggest one, please allow it to be myself._ "

" _It's_ _good of you to think that, because that's exactly the plan for the time being,_ " I replied as I holstered my gun and the woman disappeared in a burst of blue flame – a smile splayed across her black lipstick-covered lips. Rolling my shoulders, I began to make my way back to the throne room where I first encountered Minami, fully expecting to find a room empty except for the 'queen' herself, or a room that was filled with double the shadows than earlier as that's just how all these situations turned out for some reason. For my sake, I, of course, hoped that it'd be the prior.

" _Ah, nice to hear that I have your vote of confidence then, Hikigaya._ _I'll be sure to try and not disappoint you._ "

Hmph. Considering that this is the first time I'm using you in a fight, you bet your ass that you're going to try and not disappoint me. You know how long it took for me to create a completely optimized version of you via fusion? …It actually wasn't all too long in all actuality, but I'm just saying.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

" **Ah, so you actually managed to best my guards, did you?** " Shadow Minami asked me, her tone dripping with sardonicism as she spoke. " **I wasn't aware that pigs knew how to bite back… How so very intriguing.** "

Woman, would you do me a favor and please stop finding me intriguing? It's worrying and completely detrimental to my mental health. Thank you for listening.

" **Such insolence! How dare you speak to the queen in such a way?** " Oh. Did I accidentally say all that out loud? My bad. " **Yes! You did say that out loud!** " Oh… Wait, am I still doing it? " **Yes! Yes, you are! You're still doing it!** "

Oops… That's my bad. Ah, looks like I made her angry. I didn't mean to anger you. _Pft_ … Totally.

It seems that my mocking had finally pushed her over the edge as Minami and the entire room around the both of us began to tremble. Then, an instant later, I noticed that a dark energy had begun to emerge from the girl's figure, coming forth in a form that was dark, thick and gaseous.

Eventually, it took about two seconds, the energy completely consumed the figure before me, obscuring my view of her completely, before something large then burst out of it suddenly. Doing so, so quickly that it actually drug thick smoke up with it. I can't help but yawn at the overly grandiose display being put on before me.

Sorry, I know that me not taking a boss seriously completely destroys any sort of tension in the scene, but this is something I've seen quite a bit of over the years and considering the strength of the guards she sent my way, there was no way she was going to beat me. This was really all just a formality at this point.

Once again pulling my gun out from its holster, I waited for the smoke to disappear and reveal the new form of my opponent, and when it did, I was met with the sight of a pair of utterly ginormous guillotines with deep red, wooden frames that were connected to the hip of one another in a way that the angled blades formed a little, mouth that was shaped like an upside 'v'. That wasn't the only thing about the being that reminded me that it was what a human thought themselves to be as there were a pair of cartoonishly-monstrous eyes framed by… well, picture frames. Oh, and there were tentacles. Lots of tentacles. Tentacles all over the place coming from somewhere directly behind the shadow version of Minami's blade mouth. They more closely resembled something like cable than they did anything organic, which was a plus for me as if they were made out of organic material, I'd be seriously tempted to just leave Sagami to not be healed.

" **I'm going to make you pay for those words, pig!** "

Yeah, yeah…

"Scathach!"

…I'm so very sure you will, you queen of hearts knock-off.

…

 **Chapter End.**


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, yo. This is done now. Enjoy it, I guess.

…

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** Anyone who thinks I should put something here is a riajuu and should just blow up already.

…

 **8/10/20XX - Evening**

 **[Interrogation Phase]**

…

Sometimes at the end of investigations, after I finished finding the shadow version of the _perp_ and defeating the monster they all turned into, after I exerted so much effort and energy throughout the fight, my exhausted self would question why exactly I was continuing on doing what I was doing. Then, a second later, I would remind myself of the words that I had been told all those years ago by that long-nosed man and I quickly dashed those thoughts.

This time was, in fact, not any different from the other times. Thankfully so too as I really, _really_ didn't want to have an existential crisis right in front of the kneeling girl currently crying because of her own existential crisis.

"Sagami, look—" I began to try and say in an attempt to calm her down, but am almost immediately cut off before I could finish.

"—W-W-Why did you have to do that?" Shadow Sagami wailed loudly as she clutched onto the front of my coat tightly, doing so in a way that reminded me of a certain goddess whose main personality traits were to be useless and to be whiny whilst being useless, which was actually rather concerning as I actually found the thought of that once divine being balling her eyes out extremely satisfying and seeing Sagami act like that was making a rather awful urge build up inside of me. "I-I-I-I just wanted to feel powerful for once! I real-really didn't mean it when I-I called y-you an insolent pig, so p-please just give me my power back!"

 _Sigh._ What in the world did I do to deserve this? Oh, wait. That's right. I deemed you to be someone who was worth healing. You know, I'm really starting to regret that decision. "Come on." Those words are slightly elongated to further emphasize my exasperation towards her right now. "You and I both know that isn't going to happen."

"Why nooot?!" The redhead continued to complain as she let go of my coat and lowered her head to the ground, effectively going into position for a dogeza. "I'll do anything!"

Taking a deep breath in to keep myself from snapping at this caricature of a human being, which was something that could be honestly said about all shadow versions of people as whatever they subconsciously saw themselves as in their heads tended to be like that for whatever reason, I decided that it would probably be best to proceed on with the _interrogation_ phase, instead of just waiting for her to cease all her blubbering.

"Sagami Minami, do you mind if I ask you a question?" The words come out smooth and even, despite my current exhaustion.

Hearing my words immediately caused the girl to stop making bawling noises and slowly, tentatively look up at me with big watery eyes. Dammit! That's adorable! I kind of want to see it more now! Shit! "D-Does answering it mean that I'll get my powers back?"

"No, but that won't matter at the end of this. Trust me."

"…Why?" There was an obvious fear in her voice as she spoke and that fear, I'm sure, would've broken a normal man's resolve and forced him to quit applying pressure, but thankfully, I was no average man by any means. "Why won't I want to be powerful anymore?"

"Because after we're done talking, you won't want them as bad anymore. Now, will you stand up and listen to what I have to ask?" There was a brief silence between the both of us after I said that, before the redhead nodded and pushed herself up off the ground like I had instructed her to. Again, I found the tentativeness she was showing right now to be adorable. "Alright, now that you've agreed…" I looked over my shoulder towards the Komachi-expy, who had spent the entire boss fight watching on the sideline, lazily floating in all sort of different positions. "Will you do the honors, Puppet?"

"Ah, right! Gotcha!" The giant hunk of magical wood floated over to us after exclaiming that and chopped her hand down right next to where me and Sagami were standing. An instant later, a long, smooth wooden desk popped up from out of nowhere accompanied by two matching, velvet cushioned chairs. "There you go~!"

I didn't hesitate in sitting down on my chair the moment it appeared, crossing my legs and propping my head up on my hand, which was subsequently propped up on the back of the chair, almost immediately after doing so. The _perp_ , on the other hand, wasn't so quick to move to sit down, but did so after receiving a pointed glare from me, although it was a significantly less powerful version of my usual one as to spare her feelings somewhat.

"Alright, what's gonna happen now is that you and I are going to have a quick conversation." The moment the seat in front of me became occupied, I began to recite off the same words that I used at the start of every _interrogation_. Doing so in the calm, serious, business-focused tone that I had developed over my time as a detective. I'm sure that in the future, I could use it to help me with job interviews and such, as going into my business-oriented mode made me, I personally felt, ooze a certain professionalism that most people my age lacked. "I'm going to ask you a few questions and you are going to answer them truthfully. You got that? You do that and this is going to all go smoothly. You don't and, well, you really don't want to know what happens then."

Sagami nodded with an audible gulp mand with that, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the brown, little pocket notebook that I used to keep my thoughts on cases organized. Opening to the page that contained everything that pertained to the girl in front of me and her case, I looked over what the page contained quickly and began to formulate a plan of attack to get her to 'crack'. When a good one was solidified in my mind, I closed my book forcefully, placed it onto the table and didn't hesitate on going on the attack, "So, Sagami Minami… From what my information tells me, you're currently in the middle of attending your third and final year of high school, correct?"

The _perp_ nodded in response, though she seemed rather confused as to what my initial question had to do with anything that happened between the both of us, which was to be expected at the opening round of an _interrogation_.

"More specifically, you go to Sobu High and chose to be enrolled into Science. Is that also correct?" Seeing that there had been no attempt made to protest my questions so far, I pushed on ahead with a good deal of confidence. What I got back in return was another nod. "I take it that your parents are proud of you for making such a decision?"

With that question, I was met with the first resistance of the conversation as the queenly-clad redhead narrowed her eyes at me and asked, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Ah! What feeling insulted did to things like confusion and nervousness!

"Well, one must admit that the science course isn't one that's too popular with girls such as yourself. I'm sure that you choosing to go into sciences made them really hap—"

"—I didn't choose to go into the science course to make _them_ happy." I couldn't help but take note of the emphasis she put on the word 'them'. There was a genuineness to the ire in her voice that her next words lacked. "I chose Science because I wanted to. I could absolutely care less about what they thought."

"Really now? That's my bad then. Like I said, the Science courses just weren't the sort of thing I thought a girl of your social stature would take interest in. I mean, I'm sure most of your friends took the Humanities course and are in different classes, which would, of course, mean that you wouldn't get to see them as much." With every word that slipped out my mouth, I could feel the interrogatee becoming more and more irritated with me, which was exactly what I had intended.

"Oh come on, you're acting like I can't just call them or something—"

"—Then, there's the big discrepancy between the number of boys and girls who enroll in the Science course. There aren't as many girls enrolling in that course as there are boys, last I checked. That would probably make someone as attractive as yourself a rather desired target, now wouldn't it?"

Shadow Sagami lurched forwards as she sputtered out a laugh. "Are you seriously trying to imply that _I_ , of all people, actually mind being the center of a bunch of guys' attention? Are you kidding me?!"

"No, of course I'm not kidding you. Oh, and by the way, that's exactly what I'm trying to imply."

"Tch, seriously? Alright, if that's what you think, prove it then. I'd honestly like to see you try."

"Hikigaya Hachiman," I announced my own name the moment she was done speaking, which caused her to flinch back hard. Oh, and yes, I was about to refer to myself as if I wasn't myself. Sagami has yet to fully acknowledge me as me for whatever reason (I've been told that I look significantly different with a pair of glasses on so that might in fact be the reason), so I'm going to act like I'm not me for now. "On Twitter, you posted that he was your new boyfriend and a picture of you together as proof, which confuses me greatly considering most people at Sobu know that the two of you dislike each other with a passion after what he did to you at the Cultural Festival last year."

"W-Well, that happened almost a year ago now and he's already said that he was sorry for what happened—" Sorry, Sagami. I'd let you finish, but I leaned forwards and leaning forwards means that I have to act more aggressively during an _interrogation_.

"—And that was enough to convince you that he, the guy who harshly berated you in front of the most popular guy at Sobu and your two friends and has the eyes of a dead fish, was boyfriend material? You're going to have to try harder than that if you're going to convince me there wasn't any motive behind having him become your boyfriend. Actually, I'm pretty than sure that you're just using him to keep all those guys I was talking about away from you. You want to know why I know that?"

Instead of a verbal response, I received complete and utter silence from the queenly-dressed redhead before she finally folded under the pressure I was putting on her, "How then?"

"Whelp," I began as I reached up and slipped my glasses off, "someone isn't a different person just because they have glasses on, so you're upcoming shock is completely your fault."

"You?!"

"Yes, me." I deadpanned hard in reply. "So, Sagami, do you mind telling me as to why you feel like it's a better option for you to get a fake boyfriend and being directly associated with someone like myself, than it is to just tell your mother that you aren't happy with the path they set you down? I'm assuming that it has something to do with the fact that you feel partly responsible for your parents' divorce to begin with?"

More silence. Then a sudden lack of it when the tears began to pour out of her eyes.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"Congratulations on yet another successfully solved case, Eight!" Puppet exclaimed happily as she plopped herself down onto my desk, right next to where my feet were placed. "Though, I have to say that—"

"—I really need to stop pressuring the _perps_ so hard and act with a little more tact, because almost all of them end up in tears?" I finished for my advisor as I continued to stare up at the ceiling of my desk. "Yeah, yeah, you're preaching to a brick wall at this point, you know that?"

"Alright, alright, my bad. I'll admit that I should've known better than to try and convince you to try and be a better person," my wooden advisor replied with a slight hint of bemusement in her voice, which ticked me off slightly but I decided not to say anything about. Unlike her, I knew better than to bark up the wrong tree. "Anyways, what's next for you? I'm guessing that case at the karaoke place?"

"Yeah, it's the only thing I have to work on while I wait for Sagami to talk to her parents and sort this whole fake boyfriend thing out." _Sigh_. "It's a good thing that _perps_ have no knowledge of their _Inverse_ counterparts because I really don't want to have to relive that conversation any time soon."

"I feel like you say that at the end of every investigation—" Then suddenly, before Puppet can finish, the sound of something vibrating once rang through the air.

Looking down towards, where it had come from, I found my phone sitting face-down on my desk. I blink owlishly at it before then reaching over and picking it up. The moment my eyes hit the screen, I near dropped the phone in my panic to stand and run out my office.

"Hey, where are you going?!" Puppet asked while I made my hurried exit. "What was on that text?!"

"It was Yuigahama! You were right! They were actually stupid enough to try and get back in that scene!"

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Throughout my eighteen years of life, I've known very few loves. There were very few things in the world that I would actually say that I loved wholly and entirely. If I had to count them all, I could more than likely manage to do so on a single hand. Maybe two if I had to get real technical with what the word loved meant.

Now, what did the loves of my life have to do with anything with my current situation? Well, on that list would most definitely be the love that I held for my hometown, Chiba City, and I was currently sprinting down the streets of the _Inverse_ , which, outside of scenes, was a one-for-one replica of the city from everything to its general layout, down to what the buildings the parallel city was made of looking like and being located exactly where they were in the real world. If I had accidentally woken up in the _Inverse_ and the place didn't have all of the grey-heavy cell-shading, then I would be completely unable to tell the difference between the two.

So, that favored someone like myself, a man who loved his hometown so much that he took the time and effort it took to commit the entirety — and I really did mean the entirety — of the town's map to memory, as I was currently trying get to a certain place as fast as possible and navigating to said place at the same time, whilst also trying to avoid any shadows that I ran into along the way.

Was it a challenging thing for me to do? Of course it was, but fortunately, I had the advantage of knowing exactly where I was going and could do so with very little conscious input, so that took away at least a third of the challenge of my current task. Still, running as fast as I could while also trying to keep away from creatures that absolutely littered the streets was no easy feat and I felt as much when I got to my desired destination and found myself to be out of breath, laughably so.

"Fucking… finally…" I cursed to myself as I reached into the right pocket of the two that were located on the inside of my trench coat and slipped out an all too familiar yellow and black can.

Cracking it open, I raised it to my lips, which were still pushing out air faster than I could take it in with my nose, and tipped it back, downing the entire can of sickly sweet coffee in less than a minute.

When I was finished, I threw the can onto the ground as I felt all my energy slowly begin to replace itself. Ah, thank you, caffeine and sugar! Once again, you've helped me when I needed you most.

For some reason, things like MAXX coffee and painkillers acted differently here in the _Inverse_ than they did in the real world. The prior could completely refill one's energy reserves if they were low and the latter could dissipate battle damage if healing skills weren't strong enough at a particular moment. Maybe it had something to do with how people tended to over exaggerate both of those things' abilities to at least some extent, but even if that was indeed the case, I would've thought that people's logic prevailed and that would be taken into account more. Not like he, or his body was complaining, though.

When my energy was all the way back, I immediately turned my attention to the door that was in front of me and let out a sigh, before then slipping a hand into my left pocket and pulling out the object that had caused everything to begin with – my cellphone.

Unlocking it and navigating to my saved contacts, I found Yuigahama's number and called it, walking through the door to the karaoke place and entering the _scene_ said idiot had walked herself into while I did so.

"Come on, idiot… Pick up the damn phone already…" I grumbled to myself in my growing frustration as I listened to all too familiar ring of a call trying to connect.

With my office's close proximity to the _scene_ and the fact that I had literally sprinted all the way here, I managed to only take nine/ten minutes in getting here, but unfortunately, in a _scene_ like this, that was more than enough time for a defenseless person like Yuigahama to get herself killed.

Finally, after several more seconds of waiting, the ringing ceased and a second later, I was met with the voice I had been wishing to hear, "HIKKI?!"

If the two of us were in any other, normal situation, I would've said something either sarcastic and/or demeaning in response, but seeing as our current situation was very much life or death, I held my tongue and asked the sensible route. "Yuigahama, I'm here outside the _scene_ ," I told her in what was probably a vain attempt to get her to calm down. Given the fact that I could hear rapid footsteps and heavy, almost labored breathing on the other end as I spoke, I could tell that she was currently running. "You need to tell me where exactly you are."

"Uh… I-I don't know! I've been running for such a long time… and everything looks the same… and… and…" Was the response I received back from her, which disconcerted me greatly and made me pick up the pace at which I was moving at.

"Alright, alright, I understand." Knowing that allowing her to continue on with her panicked ramblings would only waste both of our times, I stopped her from doing so and attempted to verbally guide her along to the information I needed to get, keeping my voice and tone even throughout, "Just tell me, did you pass by the safe room at all?"

"…Y-Yeah… I think so! Yeah, I'm pretty sure! That was a long time ago—"

"—Alright, I know where you're going. I'll be there as fast as I can. Just keep moving, alright?"

"O-Okay, Hikki! I'll try!"

Hanging up, I quickly pocketed my phone and took off, full sprint down the stone hallway in front of me.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Another thing about the _Inverse_ that confused me greatly was the fact that I could fast travel from one point in a _scene_ to another near instantaneously. Don't ask me the about how exactly that was even possible because I don't know and nobody even attempted to explain the concept to me. All that anyone knew was that, for some reason unknown to all, the moment that I stepped through the front door of a _scene_ , I was able to teleport to any safe room that I wanted just by closing me eyes and thinking about that I was there. The more that I thought about it over the years, the more I compared it a quality of life improvement that a video game's development team put in, after receiving fan uproar towards a certain part of the game that players absolutely despised.

Now, would walking through the entirety of a _scene_ to get back to where I was be as awful as committing a ton of money and resources towards hunting boss monsters in water? Eh, probably not, but I sure as hell wasn't going to complain about it existing. Especially since I was currently using it to shave minutes off the time I needed to save Yuigahama.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Having teleported right as I had begun sprinting down the hallway, I found my shoulder colliding with the safe room door near immediately, doing so with enough force to blow said door wide open.

Naturally stumbling a little due to the impact, I quickly fought with gravity to regain my balance and when I did so, I took a sharp left.

How did I know that was the way Yuigahama ran in? Well, it was pretty easy to figure out. See, there was only one way Yuigahama could've got into the _Inverse_ and that was through the front door of the real world's karaoke place, which meant that she was going to the same way I lead them down a few days ago, which would eventually force her to pass the safe room as that corridor had only been a straight away, last I saw it.

Running at a dead sprint for a solid minute or so, I quickly found the soles of my shoes quickly go from pounding against cold cement to screeching on it as I came to an abrupt stop. There, in front of me, was the worst obstacle one could face when they were looking for someone: a literal fork in the road. Dammit… Now I need to hurry and figure out which way was the way that airhead went down.

Head frantically turning from one to another, I felt my heart begin to pump faster and faster as the familiar feel of adrenaline kicked in. I needed to hurry up. Yuigahama could already be dead by now. Come on… Which way, which way…? Wait, those shadows? Why are they all rushing down that corridor—

—Ah, of course! Already knowing what the shadows rushing one way meant, I didn't hesitate in taking off the same way, switching out the glasses I wore to summon Scathath for Job's. Shadows were a lot like bees when it came to hunting down intruders: they would all relentlessly swarm after them unless told otherwise, no matter how late to the party they were. I, unfortunately, learned that from experience… The day most definitely wasn't a good day for me.

How ironic, though. The thing that near cost me my life two years ago is going to help me save Yuigahama's… Wait, that's not irony at all! That's just pure bias on the _Inverse's_ part! How unfair! I demand equal treatment, _Inverse_!

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

It took me about five or so minutes of tailing the shadows in front of me to do so, but I eventually did manage to find Yuigahama, who was still running and, I could tell, was running on fumes just off first glance. I would've felt awful for her if my mind wasn't preoccupied with trying to figure out how to rescue her, _before_ killing all of the shadows.

Yes, I could easily just kill the shadows before saving her, but that brought in the problem of her being in the way and me accidentally hitting her with a bullet or skill, so I decided that it was best to do it in reverse order.

Looking around, I looked for openings in the huge mass of shadows that I was tailing and when I found one that looked to be a suitable one, which was basically just a thin spot in their ranks, I pulled my pistol from my holster and willed Job into existence.

"Job, _Makougan_!" I commanded my initial persona whilst pointing at the area that I needed to be hit with the tip of my M91911. Said ethereal being floating over my right shoulder nodded in response and immediately did as I told, firing off a ginormous ball of light with pinpoint accuracy that hit with enough force to clear my path.

Knowing that hesitating would only allow the window I just opened to close, I raised my arms to shield my head from damage and didn't, forcing my way clean through it. I'm guessing because they didn't have the time to properly react, the shadows simply allowed me to, which I wasn't going to complain about at all as it allowed me to break through and grab ahold of Yuigahama, doing so with my one free had, my left, by the shoulder farthest away from me, her left. "Ah!" Was the response I got from the person I was saving for doing so.

Pulling her along as I dashed past, I pivoted my body to turn completely around to face the shadows chasing after Yuigahama and pointed my gun towards them just in case my plan failed and I needed to keep them off us, ending up on one knee as I did so. " _Mahamaon_!" I barked out the thing that my entire plan hinged on, hoping that despite its low-medium chances of success (about 40-60%) due to the variety of shadows that I was currently staring down.

Given that a bright, white light was slowly building up from where Job was floating, I could tell that it was working.

"H-Hikki? What's going on—?" Yuigahama, who was currently at an acute angle to the ground with the only thing keeping her up off of it being my left arm, began to ask me, but I cut her off with a command as I knew that she needed to perform them as fast as possible.

"—Cover your eyes!" I yelled out as I leant my body over in order to help shield her eyes as much as I could. A second and a flash as bright as the Sun to a man who's spent an entire day underground in complete darkness later, and suddenly the sound of shadows charging straight at us ceased.

Having closed my eyes to keep myself from becoming momentarily blinded by Job's _Mahamaon_ , I was unable to see how Yuigahama reacted to all that happened, but I assumed that she was just relieved as I was at my arrival. I mean, if I hadn't showed up when I had, she could've—

Suddenly, before I could finish that train of thought, I felt something warm and shaking wrap itself around my shoulders and pull me into a much larger mass of the same description. "H-Hikki…"

Oh, right. How could I forget? I saved her from almost certain death, something she wasn't used to at all. My bad.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"…I'm sorry, Hikki." For what was probably the millionth time since I rescued her and began walking her home in the real world, I heard Yuigahama apologize to me, and if I were to turn my head to look over my shoulder at her, I was sure that I would see her brown eyes being pointed downwards, at the ground in a display that would've been so adorable and pitiful that I would've actually considered accepting her apology, but alas, I did no such thing.

See, I rarely actually got angry at people. Have I been annoyed in the past? Most definitely, but real, genuine anger had been an uncommon thing for me to feel in the past few years since I entered high school. So, I wanted for Yuigahama to fully grasp my current feelings towards her and her most recent actions. Sure, I was happy that she was alright and all, but what she did and why she did it were so idiotic that I could barely wrap my head around it.

To make a long story short, just because I hadn't answered any her messages earlier today inquiring about Sagami and I's relationship, she decided it to be a good idea to go into the _scene_ and look for me. Well, technically speaking, she did it because she thought something had bad happened to me while I was inside there and that was the reason as to why I wasn't replying, which was an improvement over the reason that I thought of originally: berating me for being an ass and intentionally not replying, but that didn't change it from being a bad idea.

The mental gymnastics that she had to pull off just to convince herself that she, in her current state, would've been at all helpful to me was enough to sufficiently boggle my mind and the moment she separated her bawling form from my own, I told her that.

Could that be considered harsh to do to someone who very literally came a misstep from perishing? Yeah, probably, but I needed to drill this message into her brain. She couldn't be sticking her head into _my_ business if she wasn't prepared for what it entailed.

… _Sigh_. At the very least, I didn't scream her head off about it, like I'm sure how most people my age would if a friend did something incredibly idiotic. Unlike most people my age, I was the kind of person who liked to express their anger with silence more than I did with loud, emotion-filled outbursts, especially when it was obvious that the person I was angry with felt guilty about what they did. Nothing made people think about their actions more than flat out ignoring their pleas for forgiveness, I've found.

"Hikki… Did you hear me? I said I was sorry." Eventually, after a while though, such treatment towards others got old. That usually happened when the person doing the apologizing failed to take a hint and kept doing so relentlessly. Unfortunately, the catch with using the silent treatment on others was that the person using it needed to care more about being petty and exacting their revenge than they did about not feeling guilty, as the silent treatment tended to grate on the user's conscience hard. "Come on, say something…" Truly, it was a double-edged sword. "I'm going to keep apologizing until you do, you know that, right?"

"Do it and I'll drop you, got it?" Was my response when I finally snapped under the pressure of my own guilt, as I was in fact currently carrying her piggyback and had the ability to do so. There! Alright, you win, Yuigahama! Are you happy?! You made the guy who saved your life feel so bad that he actually bent to meet your will! Does doing things like this make you feel nice and warm on the inside? I bet you like having your dog, Sable, do tricks under the false-pretense of having a treat for him too, you heartless monster! "Besides, wouldn't you have to stop when I drop you off at your house? I doubt even you could talk loud enough for me to hear you from my house."

"Ah… You do know that I can still just text you, right? Also, I know where you live so I could always just come to your house real early and annoy you then." She asked and I internally cringed in response. Dammit, she was right. I did forget that she could just do that. Great… Knowing Komachi, she'll probably encourage such behaviour just because a member of the other sex has come over to visit me… Ugh, looks like I'm in a, as the English speakers say, real catch 22 right now. "And, you were yelling at _me_ for not thinking things through…"

As someone who liked to look at situations and respond to them in realistic fashion, I recognized the lack of alternate routes for me to take and decided that it would be best for me to just give into her demands once more. "Fine, fine, I accept your apology," I concede blandly, trying my hardest to just keep my reluctance out of my voice all throughout. "Just make sure to keep away from my house, will you? Things didn't end so well the last time you came over to bug me and I'd rather not have any repeats."

Not much was said between the both of us after that. All the way up back up to her house, an apartment building that stood right around the intersection where we first _officially_ met one another, not a single word was spoke between us, which I honestly preferred as it allowed me to rest my brain some after all that's happened today.

Stepping up to the building's front door, I asked, "Do you mind if I just leave you here for now, or would prefer that I carry you all the way back to your house?"

"You…know…answer…that…"

"Wait, what? Could you repeat that? I didn't quite—"

"—Haha! I-I said that it was okay to leave me here." For some reason, I felt rather strongly inclined to not believe that answer, but I did as she asked of me and bent my knees enough so that she could get down off of me without too much difficulty.

When she was standing on her own two feet once again, Yuigahama then proceeded to flash me a smile that was bright enough to make Job's _Mahamaon_ look like a cheap, 100¥-store lighter in comparison and said her goodbyes, "A-Alright, be seeing you, Hikki!"

Grunting and nodding once, I moved to turn around, but was stopped when I found that the person I had rescued wasn't done talking, "I really am sorry about what happened, Hikki."

"Yeah, I heard you the first few times," I replied whilst turning around to leave fully, though my head was still turned towards her so I could gauge her reaction. "Just make sure to not get yourself in any more situations that require me saving you, understand?"

The airhead simply hummed and nodded back in affirmation, which prompted me to begin making my way back home. Hopefully, she understood what I was trying to get at with that.

…

 **Chapter End.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter for your faces to enjoy. This comes in a little late for y'all on FF 'cuz I need sleep. Sorry about that.

…

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** Tupac isn't dead, so you best believe I don't own either of these series.

…

 **8/11/20XX - Morning**

…

Contrary to the belief of pretty much everyone who knows who I am, I didn't spend every waking moment slacking off at home. In all actuality, I was quite the busy body.

Every day, no matter heat, rain, sleet, or snow; if I had any sort of free time, I would leave the sanctuary of my home to do something that would help in my investigations. Be it work that actually pertained to said investigations, or working a part time job to build up my _skills_ and earn yen to pay for any equipment I would need inside the _Inverse_ — airsoft bullets certainly don't buy themselves, after all — I was always out doing… well, _something_. As Hiratsuka-sensei likes to say every time a learning opportunity presents itself to her, just so she could sound all wise and sagely, "a day wasted on doing nothing, could've been a day spent improving yourself", which on all counts except originality and eloquent phrasing, was a perfectly fine motivational saying. Not the best, but most certainly not the worst thing I've ever heard come out someone's mouth.

Speaking of doing something to improve myself, I was currently on my way out my house to do something that would do just that, but as I strode over to the door, I found myself being stopped dead in my tracks by a certain mother of mine. Oh, and when I say that, I mean it very literally as she was currently standing in front of the front door.

Now, normally, I wouldn't think too much of such a sight as she was almost always going out the aforementioned door to go and be a corporate slave, but today, instead of looking at the door, she was facing away from it and directly at me. I can't help but blink at her like a confused owl as she stood there in front of me, a victorious smirk spread across her lips… for some reason.

"Um, Kaa-san... ?" I called out to her with a good amount of trepidation in my voice as what I was looking at clearly didn't bode all too well for me. Woman, could you please stop staring at me like you just won some difficult battle and you won me as a prize? It's starting to worry me. "Aren't you supposed to be at work by now? What are you still doing here?"

To be blunt with things, I knew I was screwed the moment she angled her head down so that glare replaced the lenses of her glasses completely. "Yes, you're correct about that, but have you not heard the news, Hachiman?" Mother asked me whilst pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose with her index finger. "Some drunken idiot crashed their car right into the front doors of my workplace last night. Now, it's impossible for anyone to get in or out of the building without stepping on broken glass and debris. So, instead of having us try and work around it, the bosses decided that it was best to just call everyone off for the time it takes to have everything cleaned up." She suddenly pumped her fist up into the air excitedly. "I even get paid for all the time off!"

In response to her entire explanation, I blinked and simply stared at her for a few seconds, before then shutting my eyes entirely and breathing in deeply through my nostrils at the display my mother was putting on, which done by literally any other girl, would've been a sight so endearing that I would've run up to her, threw my arms around her and called her the second coming of Komachi. Unfortunately, however, the entirety of that had been acted out by a woman in her mid-forties, who was also my mother, so the appeal of it was completely sucked out.

That was the case for me, at the very least. I'm sure my father would have an opinion different to mine, considering he probably hasn't had that side of her directed towards him in a long while, but I just wasn't feeling it. To be fair to my mother though, she didn't look her age one bit. Really, if I had just met her and also wasn't related to her, I would've taken her for a woman who was much younger than she really was. If she and Komachi were just so happening to be standing next to one another, I would've thought them to be sisters rather than mother and daughter.

"Alright… So, what exactly are you doing standing in front of the front door like that?" Knowing that there was no way I was going to be able to avoid the question and also be able to leave out through the door she was standing in front of, I bite the bullet and get it over with. "Shouldn't you be in bed relaxing or something?" I mean, if you feel so overworked that you're happy about a man getting into an accident that could've killed him, isn't that something you should be thinking about doing? Is this the fate I too will go down if I allow myself to become a corporate slave?

"Oh, most definitely," My mother admitted with a sort of cadence that only a younger girl could pull off, "but how would I be able to spend quality time with my son if I did something like that?" The moment I heard her that last part leave her mouth, my lips immediately pressed themselves together into a straight line. "Hah? Why do you look so unhappy about the fact, Hachiman? Does the thought of being with your mother displease you that much?"

My mother was a strange creature, to say the least. Her emotions had a dynamic quality to them: always shifting from one moment to another. One moment she could be acting extremely serious, stern and scary, and at other times, she could act more like Komachi. It really always depended on the context of the situation at hand.

Not to imply that my mother was bipolar, of course. Every emotional shift could easily be described more as tactical decision, which I honestly don't know if I prefer considering what I just described was a prime candidate for the title of "emotional manipulator", and no child ever wants their mother referred to in such a way when said mother never did anything actually bad with that manipulation.

"…No, but I already had stuff planned for today," I answered her honestly, seeing no reason to lie to her just yet. Surely, if she hears that her son is actually going out into the world and being productive instead of wasting away at home, she'll definitely let me go without too much problem.

"I'll just come with you then!" Was the response I got from my mother. No dice, huh? Dammit. "Surely you can add your mother to whatever you're planning on doing today, without any problem, right?" I was about to voice my obviously dissenting opinion as an answer but was stopped when my mother suddenly cut me off. "Unless, of course, you're trying to hide something from me?"

Ah, so this is what's happening, right now? Are you seriously trying to extort information out of your son? I have so many things to say about that, which I most definitely would've said to you out loud if you weren't one-half of the two people who provide me with food, water, and a bed to sleep in at night. Damn, the sensible part of me. Why you gotta make me _not_ bite the hand that fed me?

It was safe to say that I caved in quite quickly after that. As someone who also interrogated people remorselessly, I knew it was better to save time and pain, and just take a plea bargain than it was to try and weasel my way out of things. Besides, it's not like what I'm about to do is something out of the ordinary for people my age.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

One would think that after spending all of yesterday healing Sagami yesterday, my reason for going out today would be to see if my actions bore fruit or not (and probably do something about the fact that most people probably still thought we were boyfriend/girlfriend). Unfortunately, however, you'd be dead wrong about that. I've been part of the SSDA and healing people for so long that I've learned, especially at this point, to just trust the process and let things—

"Ah, Hachiman, would you mind if I asked you something?" Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by my mother, who had spent most of the train ride to our destination sitting to my left in silence. Oi, woman, let me monologue in peace! You're already interrupting my investigation preparation time, now you're seeking to take away this away from me too?! Be grateful that I haven't already done that thing I know you hate as revenge! You totally deserve it at this point!

"I don't see why not," I replied, doing my best to keep my aggravation with this overall situation out of my voice. My eyes momentarily glancing over in her direction before going back to their original task of looking ahead and focusing on nothing.

"Well, you agreed to bring me along for whatever you're doing, but you never explained to me what exactly that is. You even made me go through the trouble of getting clothes I could move around well in and a bag to carry them all in."

"Oh." Is all I could think to say back to her for a second. "The gym I like going to: I was originally planning on going there to work out some time later in the week and a classmate of mine texted me a couple days ago, saying that there was something she wanted to show me and told me to go to said gym, so I thought that I might as well kill two birds with one stone today." I looked back over at my mother. "Well, three now, considering you insisted on coming along."

One might think that what I just said was a bold-faced lie and that I was only saying what I just said as a cover story, but it turned out that was actually the case. A couple days ago, it turns out that during the texting typhoon that hit my cell phone after Sagami that photo of her and me, I got a message from a number I didn't recognize. It turns out that number belonged to the other loner of Sobu High, one Kawasaki Saki, who reached out to me and asked if I could meet up with her, stating that she wanted me to come to her gym so she could show me something.

Seeing that she, Kawasaki, was an expert at martial arts (something that I only managed to remember because she used said fact to warn me against ever harming a hair on her little brother Taishi's insect head one time), my mind immediately suspected that it was something to do with that and decided it was something that I should, at the very least, check out as I never had any sort of formal training when it came to melee combat.

"Ah, a classmate reached out to _you_?" Oi, kaa-san, why did you have to put so much emphasis on the word 'you' when referring to me? You legitimately just grilled me for facts about my 'girlfriend' two days ago! How is it so mind boggling to you that I now just so happen to more people willing to interact with me now than I used to as a kid? "Ah~! My baby boy is finally getting people to like him!" Oi, not so loud! People are beginning to stare! "So, what's his name? I don't want to make it seem like you never brought him up at home—"

"—He? Who said anything about a 'he'? The person I'm meeting is a girl."

For the longest time, my mother didn't say anything in response to my interruption. Me having returned my eyes to back out in front of me, I assumed that her silence was a sign that she didn't have any more questions to ask. I was very, very wrong to assume that.

"HAAAAAAAAAAH?!"

Ow. My ears… I think you might've just caused me to go deaf.

…

 **8/11/20XX - Noon**

…

The gym. Back when I was younger, I never understood the use of it and just assumed that the only people who actually took time out of their day to go there were show offs who wanted to display to the uncaring world how physically fit they were.

Now that I've actually spent time in one, I could say for sure that I knew that to not be the _entire_ case. Sure, there were people here who did idiotic stuff like that, but those people were few and far between. The rest of the people at gyms were simply people who wanted to get into/stay in shape and didn't want to burn hundreds of dollars at once to get pricey equipment, which in turn took up space in their homes that a lot of people didn't have. As a man who too liked to stay economically responsible whilst working to achieve my goals _and_ not filling my living space with needless things, I could understand and respect such reasoning.

The one I went to was filled with those sort of people, I found, as it lied right next to the Chiba City's downtown and most of its regular members came from that area. All their homes were most likely built inside of apartment buildings rather than suburban neighborhoods, meaning that they all had a lot less living space, which in turn meant that there was no room for things like exercise equipment. So, that lesson about the people in gyms got through to me much easier than most.

Speaking of that lesson, the gym that I learned it in just so happened to be the same one that Kawasaki went to, which was an odd thing to learn as I've been to that gym a lot over the past couple years and I've somehow managed to never bump into her once. I would've thought my life had suddenly turned into some sort of light novel, as that's the only place an information reveal that convenient could ever happen, but before I could make a witty, mental joke about how the author must be incompetent since only an unthinking idiot would try and establish a certain place to be one that the main character went to for years beforehand and then reveal that another character also went to the same place often as well, but then I realized that it was entirely possible for me and her to have gone on different schedules and that was the reason we've never seen one another.

Now that I thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense that she went to my gym. It was on the lower end of cost in terms of membership cost per month at ¥1000 a month, which would help considering, the last I checked, she was rather strapped for cash and was in the area around Sobu, where I assumed the Kawasaki family house was located in. So, her going to that gym made a lot of sense. Really, me going to that same gym made a lot less sense considering my house was on the other side of the city and it took me a fair amount of time to get there.

Well, either way, to summarize my current situation, Kawasaki and I went to the same gym and she was currently asking me to come meet her there so she could show me something - something most likely meaning: "something to have to do with martial arts" - and I had decided it a good idea to bring my mother along. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was absolutely no way that this was going to end well for me at the end of the day, but hey, free knowledge, and I was never one to turn down free anything.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"Oi, Hikigaya, why'd you bring your mother?" One Kawasaki Saki asked me that as she placed both of her hands on her hips, something I wished that she wouldn't do for many reasons. First off, it meant that she was mad at me and I didn't want that if she was going to, in fact, be doing something martial arts related. I always thought myself to be someone who could withstand a good deal of punishment thanks to my time in the _Inverse_ , where taking a hit was a common, everyday practice, but I didn't know if I could take being pummeled relentlessly by a black belt. "You do know that I'm going to be teaching you things about _fighting_ , right? Is she really going to want to see her son get beat up over and over again?"

"I'm sure she's going to be perfectly fine with it," I reply blandly as I to try to keep my attention where it needs to be and away from any region lower than her neck, which leads me to the second reason I didn't want her resting her palms on her hips: her clothing. One might think that as a karate black belt who wanted to teach me the very same art, she'd try to keep the mood as consistent as a learning experience as possible and wore some sort of training gi or something, but that person would be incredibly wrong, unfortunately. She just wore what any young woman would wear when they went to the gym and within that previous statement, lay my problem.

See, no one in the world would ever call Kawasaki Saki unattractive. Mainly because they were sure that if they did so, they'd get their heads ripped off, but also because saying so would be largely untrue. Sure, she looked like a total delinquent with her blatant, habitual breaking of dress code and overall cold, aggressive behavior most of the time, but that never took away from her overall beauty in my opinion. She was an incredibly attractive girl through and through, and so, seeing her in nothing but a plain black, tight-fitting tank top that only covered down to her upper stomach area and a pair of similarly colored leggings that just seemed to hug every curve of the delinquent-looking girl's long legs.

As a young man who held a young man's hormones within in his body, I had to admit that such a sight was one so glorious that I wouldn't mind looking at for the rest of my life, but any such thoughts were quickly dashed from my brain every time I reminded myself that the woman that was causing such feelings inside of me was going to be the same one I was going to get into somewhat restricted, hand-to-hand combat with and that very quickly killed my excitement of getting into such close contact with her. My name was not another word for the blackness that night wrought upon the world and I did not enjoy getting damage dealt to my body, last I checked, so getting beat up was not something I was looking forward to at all.

"I'm pretty sure that she's still too busy being shocked by the fact that her loner son knows someone of the opposite sex well enough to allow them to beat him up over and over again," I added on whilst looking back over my right shoulder at my mother, who was currently standing a few feet behind me weeping silently, occasionally muttering something to herself under her breath. She said it all way too low for me to hear fully, but I could fish the phrases '…my baby boy…', '…growing up so fast…', '…first a girlfriend and now this…' out of her incoherent mumblings. "So, everything should be fine as long as none of my bones end up broken."

"Hah? What's with how you said that last part? You make it sound like I was actually going to try and break your arms or something…" Kawasaki trailed off as her arms went from her hips to crossed right under her bust, causing a chain reaction of the flesh that I most definitely looked away from. Yeah, most definitely. "Just what kind of girl do you think I am?"

I simply blink and say nothing in response to that question, already recognizing it to be a loaded one that I probably wasn't going to win no matter what I said. Ha! You think you're going to trick me into falling for such an obvious trip? My corporate slave dad might not have been around to teach me a lot of things because of work, but he did teach me about things women did that I should look out for and this was most definitely one of them! You're going to have to try a lot harder than that!

Eventually, after receiving no word out of me for a good ten seconds, the eldest of the Kawasaki children let out a sigh and angled her head down towards the floor. "Whatever…" She grumbled that under her breath before then suddenly turning so that I was looking at her back. Looking at me from over her shoulder, she continued to speak and for some reason, maybe it was what I knew was coming next for me and much like going down the big curve of a roller coaster, I naturally felt the cold grip of fear, it caused a shiver to travel down the length of my spine, "C'mon, we need to go and get started. I was only able to get the ring for an hour, so we should try and make the most of it."

With that, Kawasaki began to walk away from me and my still muttering mother, and we soon followed after her – me having to drag my mother along with me by hand as I did so.

As I followed her and tried my best to keep my eyes focused on the tie in her hair, which kept her hair in a rather neatly-made bun where her ponytail should be, and not have them migrate anywhere lower than that, I found myself being impressed by Kawasaki's sense of professionality. Even now, she was focusing on making the most of what she's acquired.

Such a frugal girl— Wait. Did she just say 'ring'?

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

As someone who cared very little about sports in general, unless they were featured in an anime/manga I was a fan of, it should be no surprise that I knew very little about the combat sport of mixed martial arts, or MMA, as it's apparently called by its fans. It was a niche sport that was directly marketed to a certain kind of person - a kind of person who liked sports - which wasn't me in the slightest. So, of course, I didn't pay any attention to it.

Despite my disinterest towards MMA, however, that didn't keep me from recognizing what the structure that Kawasaki was currently leading me into was and the connection it had to the combat sport.

The Pentagon: the eight-sided ring in which all MMA fights took place in. All eight, black chain-link made sides being built tall enough so that there was no possible way anyone inside it was leaving the ring. It was a rather intimidating figure to look at, I had to admit. Especially when Kawasaki Saki, all decked out with gloves and a head guard was staring at you from inside of it,

"C'mon, step inside," said bluish-haired girl commanded with a wave of her hand, gloved hands being on her hips once more, but for some reason, it didn't bother me as much this time. "It's not going to bite, y'know?"

It was then when I glanced over at my mother, who was standing next to the ring looking at me with an expression on her face that was practically screaming that this was a bad idea, that I realized this was a _very_ bad idea.

Well, actually, I realized that when my sparring partner handed me the head guard and gloves, but who the hell cared about semantics like that when I was about to get beat up?

Why was so I afraid when I've faced so many shadows in the past? Well, that was a fairly simple question to answer. In the _Inverse_ , I had boosted strength, speed, and agility. The same, however, could not be said about real world me. I sure as hell wasn't a slouch outside the _Inverse_ when it came to athletics, don't get me wrong, but nothing like how I was in there. Also, I couldn't just summon a persona to magic away all the damage done to me in this plane of existence and I was about to walk into a ring with a girl who apparently has a black belt in karate. So, that's what I was so scared about.

Taking a step into the ring like I was told, I found myself doing so just in time to see my partner cracking her fingers and neck, causing audible pops to ring out into the air, all of which sent shivers down my spine.

Yep. This was most certainly a bad idea on my part. Well, hopefully, she won't go too hard on me…

 _Sigh_. I'm going to die here, aren't I?

…

From the very dawn of our species, the human race has done everything in their power to avoid having pain being inflicted upon themselves. Be it a large gash in the side that had blood pouring out of it profusely, or something as tiny as a chronic ache in one's hip, we, as a collective, had the tendency of going above and beyond when it came to making it so that we didn't have to deal with such annoyances.

What? A bleeding gash in the side was hardly something that one could refer to as an 'annoyance'? _Ha_! Of course it was! Name me one person in the world who wouldn't be annoyed by having a part of them get slashed open and I'll gladly correct my previous statement.

Anyways, going back to the point I was trying to prove, the human race didn't like pain. Why? Well, because it hurt and no matter what, being hurt was always rather uncomfortable. One didn't need to do any sort of deep soul searching to figure that much out.

So, if the everyday human being did everything in their power to avoid feeling pain, what did me agreeing to Kawasaki's training say about me? Was my chuunibyou self correct in thinking that I had transcended humanity and become a superior being meant to be both feared and revered by the rest of society?

Nah, probably not. It probably just meant that I was an unthinking idiot who saw training being offered for free and took it without seeking out any information. Yeah, I'd put my money on that being the case over the one I'd stated prior. It just made a lot more sense, logically speaking. Also, it was a lot less cringe-inducing.

My biggest supporting evidence for my claim? The fact that I was looking up at a plain white ceiling and still couldn't place which one was the original told me as much.

"Hey, are you alright?" Suddenly, my view was taken up completely by the light violet eyes of the person who had caused the lack of stability within my vision. "You've been lying there for a good two minutes now… Do you need me to get someone or something?"

This not even being close to the first time being knocked for such a loop, I knew that my current, head-trauma based disorientation wasn't anything to be too worried about. What I was experiencing right now probably wasn't even severe enough to be ruled a light concussion by a medical professional… Probably. I mean, hopefully.

How did I even manage to get myself hurt like this? Surprisingly enough, the answer to this question was also very simple. After showing Kawasaki what exactly I knew about fighting hand-to-hand, which was pretty much limited to stuff I've learned from martial arts magazines I've picked up from time to time, I found that while I knew about the basics just fine, the way I put all that information to use was sloppy at best. Apparently, my form was so egregiously bad that she, and I quote, 'cringed a bit internally and began to question just how I managed to get as far as I have with such atrocious fundamentals'.

Now, I would've explained that I wasn't much of a close-quarters type of guy to begin with, and that I've always leant more towards using my gun than my own strength, and even when I did indulge in it from time to time, I'd whip out my baton and use that, not my bare fists – sure, I was known, mainly by Puppet, to throw a knee in there every once in awhile, but that was only ever to create openings for myself to either shoot or bash with aforementioned baton – but my mother was literally a few feet away looking in at us, out on the outside of the ring, so that was out of question.

Instead, I told Kawasaki that I had very little use for the art in my everyday life and left it at that, hoping she caught my drift, which, given the nod she sent back to me in return, I assumed that to be the case.

That then led to the only tolerable part of my fellow loner's training and that was teaching me how to actually throw strikes, which in turn led to the two of us being in extremely close proximity to one another as she got strangely hands-on when it came to guiding my form along — not that I minded, of course, something that I said as both a man and a student.

What happened next was what caused me to end up on my back, looking up at the ceiling.

After having me practice throwing some standard punches: jabs, straights, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts right at the end; Kawasaki eventually deemed that I was ready to move onto the next stage of our training and the thing I had been dreading ever since I stepped into this eight-sided, chain-link coffin: actual, real-time sparring.

Probably sensing my trepidation with doing so, the teenage smoker assured me that she'd go relatively easy on me and that nothing too hard would be thrown my way.

As it turns out, Kawasaki's definition of 'going easy on someone' was different from my own.

To make a long and painful story short – though it really only lasted a second, so it was a much more painful a tale than anything else – I had attempted a total of five or so attacks on Kawasaki's person and all of five them had failed in connecting, or even grazing her for that matter, but what I had succeeded in doing was applying pressure on her and closing the distance in between the both of us.

Seeing that, I had gotten it in my mind that I should attempt a right hook at her head as I was in range for it and all. The moment my arm reared up to attack, Kawasaki was already in motion and it was at that moment I knew, I screwed up royally.

In a motion that was as fluid and fast as a river, my fellow loner very easily weaved underneath my swing and then proceeded to hit me with a clean, right jab to the left temple, which knocked me to the ground faster than any shadow could've. I'm sort of happy that it did, though. It, at the very least, kept me from having to deal with anymore of her attacks. So, thank you for this small mercy that you've bestowed upon me, woman with a sledgehammer for arms. I really appreciate it. Well, I will fully when the world finally stops spinning.

" _Hup_!" Suddenly, I felt something grip me by my shoulders and force me up to a sitting position, which really didn't help my dizziness at all, but I wasn't really in the condition to complain about anything. "Come on, let's get you up, Hachiman."

Seeing that there were only two people in the world who would ever call me by my given name, I took a wild guess and assumed it that it was my mother who was currently peeling me off the ground and asking the person who put me on there in the first place for some time for me to recuperate, "Kawasaki-san, I think it's best for you two to take a break—"

"—No, I'm fine," I told my mother as I put the knuckle side of my glove to the mat and push myself up to my feet, speaking with as flat and even as tone I could manage to help sell the thought of me being fine, which I really wasn't, by the way. My right temple no longer hurt, but I was still dazed a tiny bit. "I was just seeing double there for a second. The only reason I didn't get up was because I didn't want to get up while the Pentagon we're in had sixteen sides to it."

"Um… You sure you're still not a little out of it, Hikigaya?" Kawasaki was the one to ask that question. Immediately after that, the delinquent-looking girl repositioned herself so that she was standing in front of me and slightly to the left. I'm sure if I had looked up at her then, I would see her with her hands on her hips. "You do know that there are only five sides to a Pentagon, right? How would two of those equal sixteen—?"

"—Yep, he's fine!" This time it was my mother who cut someone off, but unlike me, she spoke as if she was embarrassed by something. "Hachiman has never been the most brightest child when it comes to mathematics." Oi, woman, I'm not _that_ bad at math! I, at the very least, managed to keep from the very bottom of the rankings! Stop laughing as if you're talking about bad something that's sullied our bloodline! "Anyways, seriously, Hachiman, are you sure you're alright? You don't need us to go get someone to take a look at you?"

 _Sigh_. Could you really not do this right now, mom? I get that your motherly instincts make it so that you can't help how you're acting and that your strangely inherent son-con tendencies don't help at all (I mean, why else would an overworked salary woman like my mother take something as rare as a unscheduled day off and use it to spend time with her son?), but I'm not a child who would cry whenever he got a scraped knee anymore, y'know? Sheesh, so embarrassing…

"I'm fine, kaa-san…" I mutter under my breath as I finish going through with the whole forcing myself up to my feet process, scratching at my suddenly warm cheek and turning my eyes to look in literally any direction that lead to me not having to look at anyone as I did so.

I opened my mouth to say something else, but before any words could leave my mouth I was stopped by the sudden sound of girlish giggling coming from where I remembered Kawasaki had been standing.

Blinking in my confusion, I turned to look in the direction where the noise had come from and found myself staring at probably the most serious and collected woman I've ever met in my life (except maybe barring Yukinoshita whenever she wasn't near anything related to cats or Pan-san the Panda) trying to hide the fact that she was giggling like a madman by hiding her mouth with her arm.

Oi, Kawasaki-san… Are you alright? What exactly about that interaction with my mother did you find so funny? You trying to pick a fight with me or something? If so, please wait until we're both back inside the _Inverse_ , then I'll be more than glad to fight you.

"Ah… I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Kawasaki was eventually able to say, through her giggling. "It's just that… I never thought that I'd see a face like that on you of all people…"

"Oi, I could very well say the same about you, couldn't I?" I shot back flatly, being very much insulted by the disrespect this woman has shown towards my mother's doting of me. The only person that gets to do so is me and me only. Remember that. "Anyways, can we please get back to the training?" I would've shoved my hands into my pockets after I said that, but unfortunately, my hands were currently impeded by the fact the sparring gloves, so I just placed them on my hips. "I thought you said that you only had a limited time with this ring."

"Yeah, yeah, I get you…" she replied, an amused smile still splayed across her features. "Before that, let's talk about what you did wrong there…"

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" My mother asked me as I continued to bury the side of my face into the mat, rubbing me in between my shoulders with my hands as she did so.

"I regret coming here so much…" I muttered into aforementioned mat in response. Yes, Kawasaki had put me on the mat once again. This time, however, I at least hadn't gone down in one hit. Me lying on the ground this time was a result of multiple hits stacking up onto each other over a long period of time, which was a much more honorable a defeat than my first.

"Do you need us to go get someone now, Hikigaya?" It was the very person who put me on the mat who asked me that and once again, I responded by pushing myself up off the mat with the knuckles of my gloves and shaking my head.

"I'm alright," I stated as I shifted from my arms and knees to a sitting down, frowning as my sweat-soaked hair completely blanketed the top portion of my face. "Just… I'm starting to think that it's best we stop here."

"You think?" Suddenly, an amused smile popped onto her features as she spoke next, "I'm actually surprised that you made it through all of that." She knelt down so that her eyes were level with mine. "Especially after that first knock you took."

"Yeah, yeah, you hit like a goddamn truck, so don't put that on me," I retorted bitterly as I rubbed my left bicep with my opposing hand, which was aching as if it was in fact run over by a truck.

"HACHIMAN, LANGUAGE!" My mother exclaimed as she slapped me right in the spot she had just finished rubbing. Ow, woman, what the hell?! When'd you turn into Job?! I really don't need two people in my life complaining about my word choices. "You should never speak that way to a lady!"

" _I resent that, master,_ " The persona in question stated flatly. " _Also, I must agree with your mother. Please watch your language when referring to our lord._ "

 _Sigh_. Why does everybody in my life seek to change who I am? Why can't they just be satisfied with who I am?

"Ah, it's alright, Hikigaya-san," Kawasaki told my mother, her voice suddenly turning extremely sheepish for some reason. Wait, did you actually take offense to me saying that? Seriously? You've talked to Yukinoshita before and never acted this way. "I don't mind him saying that at all—"

"—Oi, could you stop making it sound like I was trying to insult her there," I cut her off whilst standing myself up. Looking over towards my mother, I crossed my arms over my chest and continued speaking as to elaborate on what I just said, "I'll have you know that I meant what I said to be complementary."

"Huh?" That noise came from where Kawasaki was standing, but I ignored it so I could go on.

"I felt as though the amount of force she put in her punches was an indicator to how seriously she takes training me." The words that were coming out my mouth were being said half because I thought them to be the truth and half because I didn't want to hear my mother do what all mothers did when they felt their child insulted someone and affirm that what I did was a problem, despite Kawasaki herself saying that it wasn't a problem and then have me apologize for it. "Seeing as such dedication is something that I don't see in some, professional teachers these days, I can't help but admire her." I closed my and smirked to myself as I finished my point. "So, in my eyes, me saying that she hit like a truck was really the highest compliment I could give her."

Silence ensued after I finished speaking. Wondering what was going on with the two females around me, I opened my eyes and was immediately met with the sight of my mother staring off to my left with a look of awe.

Blinking and curious as to what she was looking at, I follow my mother's gaze and found Kawasaki staring at me with wide, deer in the headlights-like eyes. Red being prominent on her cheeks.

What? Why are you staring at me like that? Are you the kind of person who can't take a compliment—?

"— _I am thou, thou art I…_ "

Wait, a social link? Now? What the hell is with this timing, Monroe? Are you trying to say something?!

…

 **Chapter End.**


	8. Chapter 8

This is a new chapter. Please do enjoy.

…

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** Words that don't mean anything to you.

…

 **8/11/20XX - Evening**

…

" _I am_ _ **thou**_ _, thou art_ _ **I**_ …

 _Thou hast developed a new_ _ **trust**_ …

 _May this small step forwards be the_ _ **hammer**_ _that shatters the_ _ **masks**_ _that_ _ **plague**_ _society,_

 _And helps thou discover what is truly_ _ **genuine**_ …

 _With the acquisition of the_ _ **Chariot Arcana**_ _, I now have the knowledge needed to help guide thou through this_ _ **fog**_ _of uncertainty and onto_ _ **treasures**_ _never before seen…_ "

Those words, which, curiously enough, I felt had been added onto since the last time I heard them, reverberated in my mind throughout the entire train ride back from the gym with my mother and Kawasaki, and continued to do so as I threw my tired body onto my bed…

It turns out that I was, in fact, wrong to think that one of the reasons why she, Kawasaki, also went to that gym was because she lived close to it. Actually, she lived right around the same area that I did.

Apparently, it wasn't her name that I forgot this time. It was all the other things that I knew about her this time! Oi, brain! Good on you for learning how to mix it up a little! Next time, how about you not forget anything? That would be really appreciated, y'know, since the girl you're forgetting things about is the same one who is legally allowed to punch me, your owner, in the face. Thank you very much for listening.

Anyways, not a lot was said in between us, Kawasaki and I, on our way back to our respective homes. Partially because the both of us were notorious loners and appreciated silence more than we did idle chit-chat and mainly because my mother, who was really excited to see the interaction between my fellow loner and I for whatever reason, ended up picking up the slack for me in the end and then some.

Questions shot out my mother's mouth like bullets coming out a machine gun's barrel. I was barely even able to keep up with it, they were coming so fast. I truly felt bad for Kawasaki, who did her best to try and answer them all. She didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of such punishment. I would've done something back then, but I doubt I would've able to do anything to help, other than serve as a momentary distraction.

Thankfully, my mother seemed at least able to keep the questions being asked inoffensive ones. She asked my fellow loner about how she, Kawasaki, and I met; what I did to make myself seem even a tiny bit tolerable enough to be around; and then, eventually, about her family.

The answers the delinquent-looking girl gave back were given rather well considering the circumstances. I only heard her stuttering two times in total, which was a record that not even my pops would be able to attain and he's known mom for longer than I've been alive. They even came out a steady pace as well!

The flow of conversation between the two remained like that until the topic of Kawasaki Taishi and his relation to my precious little sister was brought up. Apparently, mom was unaware of the fact that Komachi had a friend her age who was also a boy, which didn't surprise me at all since she spent a lot of her time either at work or sleeping and neither really facilitated knowing a good deal about your children's personal lives. Actually, it ended up doing the complete opposite. Who would've thought?

Anyways, to say that mom was thrilled to hear that the two of us had found friends of the opposite sex would be an understatement. She even asked to meet with her, Kawasaki's, parents one day, since the four of us turned out to be so close. _Sigh_. Why must you be such an embarrassing person to be so closely associated with, mom? Do you like feasting on my embarrassment or something? Do you need it to survive? Is that the reason? If so, please make the kind of sacrifice I know a truly loving mother would make and allow yourself to starve to death for my own sake. Please and thank you.

Wait, why am I commenting on something that happened in the past as if it happened just a second ago? Why am I even wasting time thinking about this? What am I? A shitty writer trying to fill out his story with useless flavor text so that he could meet a certain word count and appease whatever powers that were forcing him to work? There were much more important things to be concerning myself with - things like the pointy-nosed man in a suit that was sitting before me cross-legged behind a desk, in front a huge mass of wooden mannequins – half of which with had their heads turned away from me and the other half were looking right at me, but all of them, the ones who were looking in my direction, had lights spilling forth from where their eyeholes were, illuminating my figure like stage-lighting except they weren't completely blinding me.

Monroe was there too, by the way. She looked stunning as always, I assumed as her entire front side was covered in shadows due to said lights, sitting on top of already mentioned desk in a similar manner as the pointy-nosed man she served.

"Ah, young _pathfinder_ ," said pointy-nosed man greeted me in his usual way through his closed teeth, ear to ear grin – his voice being as higher-pitched to the point of nearly being shrill as it always did. "Welcome back to the _Velvet Room_." He shifted slightly forwards in his seat as he continued, "It's been quite awhile since we've last had the chance to talk like this."

What he was saying was true, the last time the two of us talked was back a few days before Christmas, or to be more specific, when I confessed my want to find something genuine to the two other members of the Service Club (plus Isshiki, by accident) and that had been months ago. Not that I was surprised at all, though. He would only ever come and talk to me when I had done something that was actually worth commenting on and it was safe to say that my last few months had been rather uninteresting when it came to the investigation side of things. I guess me starting my first social link in two years was enough to get him to finally talk to me again. I would've thought accidentally bringing nine people into the _Inverse_ would do it, but whatever floats your boat, Igor.

Not having anything to say in response to my contractor's statement, I simply nodded my head back in response, which prompted him to go down the path of conversation I assumed that he called me to the _Velvet Room_ for.

"It seems that you've established your first trust in quite a long while, young _pathfinder_ ," Igor stated in his usual matter of fact way, which was sort a given considering he sort of just always spewed summaries of any even close to notable action that I've done since we last spoke and then proceed to tell me his thoughts on them. "I must say, it's been so long that I wonder if you even remember my explanation on how you strengthen them."

"Don't worry, I remember what you told me just fine," I reassured him with a wave of my hand, my eyes closed as I spoke. Seriously, the last thing I need is a tutorial after having done my job for two years. "All I have to do is spend time with them and get to know them better as a person, right?"

"Precisely," Igor replied, "but I assume you noticed the changes to what was said to you?" Not seeing any reason to open my mouth and give my answer verbally, I simply nodded back. "Then, I assume you understand that it had to do with that epiphany that you had eight months ago."

"Yeah, I did…" I trailed off, a displeasing thought entering my mind a second after doing so, which led to a frown forming on my lips. "Would you mind if I asked you a question about that?"

"I don't see why I would mind something like that." Was Igor's response. It was quick and decisive as always, which was something I always appreciated from the man…? Magical being? Physical representation of some philosophical concept? I have no idea what this guy in front of me really was, but not like that mattered. "Go right ahead."

"Why make me go through the trouble of having to soul search if you could've just made the social link message that in the first place? If it was that in the first place, it could've served as a starting point for me, so I wouldn't have to spend so many days trying to come up with that very same conclusion."

"True," Igor nodded his head as he spoke, "but if we residents of the _Velvet Room_ were to hold your hand throughout the entirety of our contract, we'd be remiss to refer to you as the _pathfinder_ , now wouldn't we?"

Immediately, I open my mouth to respond, but quickly end up closing my mouth and relenting as I realize I have no real rebuttal against it, "Yeah, I guess you're right…" Letting out a sigh, I prop my elbow up on the armrest of the chair I was sitting in and then promptly rested my cheek on my knuckle. "Still, doesn't mean that I have to like it…"

"So, if you're now finished with your inquiries, I'd like to comment on your recent progress," my contractor eventually stated after a short stint of silence between the three of us. I nodded my head almost subconsciously. This had sort of become a routine for us: me coming here and him telling me how he feels I'm doing with Monroe chiming in every once in awhile. So, I'm guessing at some point, me agreeing must've turned into something that felt natural to me, despite me highly doubting that my input really mattered when it came to this. "I must admit that you're making great progress from when you first started out, _pathfinder_ , but you still have a long way to go."

"What exactly have I done recently that has been any different from what I've done the past few years?" I asked, though I already knew that I wasn't going to get an actual answer from the suited man. He was the kind of person to speak vaguely about almost everything, all to help facilitate my 'pathfinding' no doubt, so I was more than sure he wasn't going to start speaking to me clearly now.

"It's minute, but I can see that a part of you has come to realize that not all paths can be walked alone and the one you're currently on, most certainly, is a path like that." I cocked my head to the side in begrudging acceptance of the statement. I might not want any of those nine inside the _Inverse_ with me, but I wouldn't have accepted Kawasaki's training or given Tobe a chance if something like what Igor had brought up hadn't crossed the mind. "So, please keep reaching out for assistance and strengthening your bonds, and I'm sure you'll find that genuine thing you're looking for."

 _Sigh_. You tell me to get help, but you people won't help me? I know that you're both mystical beings that can only really give me advice and doing so would be cheating but talk about hypocritical.

…

 **8/14/20XX - Morning**

…

If there was something that I really couldn't understand when it came to consumers of any sort of content, it was the fact that, for whatever reason, they inherently despised cliches. Sure, I've complained about my fair share during my time on Earth, but that was usually because they were handled fairly poorly just like most things.

In reality, I appreciated what others deemed overplayed and cliche, simply because I understood that coming out with something original and still managed to resonate with an audience was extremely difficult. Oh, and I also understood that content consumers, in general, were a fickle bunch, who, upon seeing an original concept be handled poorly, would immediately become baffled as to why that was even in the end product when going down a much more 'logical route' (a.k.a: what a hypocrite would say instead of cliche) would've been a much better decision in the end, but that was beyond the point I was trying to make currently.

That point being that, whenever a person decided to make a piece of content that was meant to be (and I'm talking someone who genuinely cared about the product they were creating and not the kind of person who create a light novel series about a man becoming the water at a hot springs), they needed to make a conscious decision. Should I try and be experimental at the cost of this thing I'm making losing the appeal of the general audience and overall quality because trying to stick to an original anything was extremely difficult, time consuming, and inherently cut off a lot of future routes that a story could take, which would've been better in the long run; or should I just stick to the basics and try and optimize these cliched ideas that I have to the very best of my ability?

Of course, there were the few creators who realized that there was a best of two worlds where you could just take those cliched ideas and use them in cool and inventive ways, but they were outliers as that was a skill, unfortunately, that not many had for whatever reason. Maybe it was easier to come up with zany and wild things that no one has ever come up with, than it was to find a way to use a cliche in a way nobody, or very few people at the very least, has ever done before. I don't know.

Anyways, I just couldn't understand people who hated cliches and the reason that line of thinking was even in my brain in the first place was because I had woken up to the sound of an alarm clock going off, blaring like there was a fire in my home: literally the most cliche way any piece of content could start up with. Pretty much the only thing that could be more overplayed would be my morning starting up with what a scene that I thought was real life, but was actually a dream foreshadowing future events the entire time.

The cliche had their place in the world and I wasn't going to let any elitist, intellectual-types tell me other— _Oof_!

Just then, I was briefly reminded that, a few days ago, Kawasaki trained me in the art of mixed martial arts. OW! The hell was that?! Whatever or whoever that was, who the hell do you think you are?! Can't you see that I'm trying to monologue in bed?! That's one of the most precious rituals a loner has! Have you no shame?

"Come on, onii-chan~!" Oh, wait. That was you, Komachi? Never mind with my previous anger then. It's okay. "You need to get up and eat breakfast, so we can leave! Otherwise we're gonna be late for school!"

Okay, okay! I hear you! Just because I haven't opened my eyes yet doesn't mean that I'm not awake, girl! So, you can quit it with the ahoge-pulling already—!

—Ah! Why are you still pulling on my hair, you demon? My eyes are wide open and staring at you—! Ow! Again?! Stop it!

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Plainly speaking, I loved my little sister a lot. Not as much as other people, literally everyone in the world it seemed like at times, made it out to be, since they constantly referred to me a sis-con/somebody who's romantically interested in their sister, despite me having constantly monologued out my displeasure for such people.

Anyways, the relationship the both of us had was very much a mutual, give and take relationship. We did a lot of things for one another. She made me breakfast every morning and I let her ride on the back of my bike to school. I provide her assistance on some school work (only in things I specialized in, things such as: Japanese, English, and History – Humanities-related stuff) and she provided me advice on social situations that my loner self had no prior experience in. So on, and so forth.

That being said, I was currently doing the prior of those two examples and would probably end up doing the latter sometime later tonight, depending on if she's assigned any homework in those three specific classes, but my thoughts about that could be saved for later when it actually happens. There were more pressing issues for me to think about as of this moment and that was getting to school before first bell rang, having to do with the added weight of another human weighing down the backside of my bike, which was actually a pretty easy task considering my improved physical condition.

"So, how are things going with your girlfriend?" Although, there were certain things that could occur during execution of said brotherly task that could throw off my focus and cause it to be a much harder a job than it actually was in reality - things like that question that just exited Komachi's mouth. "You're the one who agreed to become this Sagami's boyfriend, so you better not be slacking off on keeping her happy!"

I open my mouth to say something back, probably to remind her that none of my relationship with Sagami was real, but then stopped myself when I realized that I had never told her that it was all a ruse to get interested boys off her back. Dammit. That means I'm actually going to have to role-play now. God— I mean, _dammit_ it all. It was too early for this.

Turning to look over my shoulder, I proceed to give my best imitation of myself when I was embarrassed, "A-ah, I mean, I think that things are going alright…" I turn to look back at the road in front of me. "I really wouldn't know one-hundred percent happy, though."

The words I said were really the truth, despite everything else about what I was saying being an act. I really didn't know if Sagami was happy, but I did at least know that she was going to be much happier with the outcome of this timeline than the alternate one where I deemed her unfit for healing in the first place. What a dark timeline that would've been. I wouldn't have ever needed to save Yuigahama from the _Inverse_ and thus, never would've needed to spend my weekend working to make enough money to make up for all of the supplies I wasted going from Sagami's scene to the one in the karaoke place.

My, what a dark timeline indeed…

"If you're not sure, just go and ask her sometime today!" My little sister exclaimed with the laugh/squeal that was, I'm sure, got trademarked by the younger sisters of the world to use against their doting older siblings when they needed an advantage. Maybe that was just my little sister, though. "I mean, if she's close enough with you to want to date a trashy onii-chan like you, then I'm sure she'll be open to the idea of talking things out."

"Yeah, I guess…" I relent as I continued to pedal down the road before me, though I would've liked it to come off as a little bit less flat. Oh, come on, Hachiman! You can put on a better performance than that! You've done it countless times with _perps_!

"Onii-chan! This is exactly the type of stuff I'm trying to keep you from doing! You can't afford to be lazy if you want to keep her!"

Ugh… It was times like this where I could just tell you the truth, Komachi. Then, I wouldn't have to deal with you giving me advice on a relationship that doesn't even exist in the first place, but unfortunately for me, these lips of mine are going to have to stay sealed for the next week or so. Sagami was a rather popular girl, after all. If people found out that she dated the guy who bitched her out to the point of breaking down to tears (twice, might I add, but no one other than Puppet will know about that, so it doesn't count) and then cut things off in less than a week in, people are going to start talking.

Probably more about me than her seeing as I was the easier target (I was betting they'd say something about me using blackmail to force her to date me or other, depraved shit like that), but people have always been able to twist facts around to meet their agendas, so it was best to just keep to the plan she and I laid out together that day after my birthday.

Basically, I act as a barrier to keep the boys in her class who would never leave her alone about becoming her boyfriend, by becoming her 'boyfriend' and, in return, she'd buy me a MAXX coffee for everyday I play along (she originally offered a favor, but that was too ambiguous for my taste and was destined to cause misunderstandings).

Could one consider a product that only costs a hundred yen be a rather insufficient payment for my services given the conditions and the fact the money drops from shadows kept me well-funded? Oh, most definitely, but I wasn't complaining, considering that I really needed to get past that door of hers so I could get down to healing her and agreeing to the plan was the only way I could think of to get her to open up, so I really had no choice in the matter. Also, free MAXX/free food (though the coffee took precedent over the food always) was always worth it, no matter what anyone said.

Anyways, what ended up happening at the end of all that was that I (duh) asked about what would happen in the event that she wanted to break things off before school started. She, Sagami, then proceeded to ask me why I was already thinking that she'd bail on the plan, despite it not being in full effect yet. I proceeded to tell her that I was only speaking hypothetically.

In reply to that, she explained that she would keep the act going for a week and then cut things off citing the cause to be a noticeable lack of chemistry between the two of them, stating the same things I did about how people would start talking if they 'broke up' too early. I, for one, honestly didn't care at all about what those riajuu bastards had to say about me if that were to indeed happen, but I couldn't say the same about her and so I had to relent. Damn investigations… Making me much more understanding to other people's plights…

Speaking of, as I approached the gate to school, I noticed a certain redhead standing out by the gate, my reward for going through this torture in hand.

"Aw~!" Suddenly, I feel lithe arms wrap around my sides tightly, nearly making me lose balance and fall off my bike. "She waited by the gate for you, onii-chan~! She even got you a can of MAXX coffee! Don't ever let this one go!"

Alas, Komachi, if you only knew the lies you were praising at this moment. You'd be screaming at us to give you back your praise. So, basically, you'd be acting like how I act when I see Isshiki.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Unlike most loners, I wasn't the kind of person who minded getting attention. I didn't particularly think that being a social paragon was the most important thing in the world either. So, one could probably understand why I felt so uncomfortable as I felt eyes pierce the back of my neck all the way down to the third year classrooms.

Why exactly was I drawing so much attention? Had I accidentally come to school in nothing but my underwear? Did someone drape an akatsuki jacket on me sometime during my walk here from the bike racks? Was it the fact that I, a creepy-looking, loner kid, had an attractive girl on my arm? …Yeah, that one was probably it.

From left to right, guys that Sagami and I walked pass were shooting me death glares the moment our backs were to them. Huh. Funnily enough, despite me fully expecting this kind of response, it still hit me with the kind of force that only a blindside could give me. I guess being glared at by a good chunk of your peers was one of those things that managed to effect you fully no matter what then.

Still, I prefer that to the whispering the female population was doing around me. At least with the death glares, I knew the guys just wanted me out of the picture anyways necessary. I had no idea as to what the girls around the both of us were talking about and, when it came to things to be afraid of, uncertainty of what was coming next always trumped impending doom in my book.

As I tried my hardest to keep my eyes directly out in front of me at all times, I suddenly felt the grip Sagami had on her arm tighten suddenly, which I took as a sign that she wanted my attention. Glancing down towards her, I found a pair of blue eyes returning my gaze, to which I raised a eyebrow to question her action.

"Hey, Hachiman, do you work out?" That question was completely from out of nowhere and out of the blue. So much so, that I nearly missed the fact that she just called me by my given name.

"Did you just call me by my—?" I began to ask subconsciously as I wasn't used to such a thing, but was cut off before being able to finish.

"—Of course, I did, Hachiman! You're my boyfriend. Why wouldn't I?" Ah, so that's why I? I mean, solely technically speaking, that makes sense, but that doesn't mean I like it. "Now, about my question?"

"O-Oh, um, yeah, I do," I reply back in a not at all awkward and unnatural way. Yep, the smoothest conversationalist in Sobu Academy. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she answered back almost immediately. Suddenly, I felt something thin and hard begin to trace the top of my bicep, which was fully exposed thanks due to my short-sleeved button-up. The sudden, teasingly light contact caused the hair on my arm to begin to stand up and slight chills to go down my spine. Woman, what in the world are you doing? "Just wanted to know why my boyfriend's arms feel so strong and thick, is all."

Oi, phrasing! Don't be a pervert when we're around other people! Actually, don't be a pervert when it's just we're alone either! Just stop being a pervert entirely, woman! The more you do, the more people will think we've done unsavory things together, which I get is the point and will help solidify our fake relationship in their eyes, but I don't want that. I don't want people thinking I'm no longer pure! God, just thinking about the notion makes me want to hold my head in my hands!

"T-Thanks…" Oi, me, stop acting so embarrassed! You aren't helping things either! I get that you recieving female attention to this level isn't something you're used to, but just grow a pair and take with stride!

A melodic laugh escaped from Sagami's mouth after I said that. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed!" She stated mirthfully whilst leaning into the arm she was holding onto, causing a certain pair of things to things to press up against me even more.

Frowning, I grumble a few select things under my breath and tilted my head away from my fake girlfriend. That unfortunately caused her to laugh at me even more, though.

Ugh… This was going to be a long week.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"Hey, are you free at lunch?" I asked as the two of us reached the front door of my classroom. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Ah, are you sure you just don't want to pull me away from prying eyes, Hachiman?" Was how Sagami chose to respond to me.

I can't help but blink owlishly at the question. "I mean, yeah…" Before anyone said anything, I was aware of the perverse undertone that laced her words, but I just really didn't want to acknowledge it. Maybe a part of me thought that if I just went along with it, it wouldn't affect me as much? I don't know. "That _was_ the entire point of me asking."

"At school? My, I didn't know my cute boyfriend could be such a dog." Groans suddenly wanted to burst out from my throat in response to that, but I was able to keep my emotions in check. "Anyways, if you want me all alone, it's going to have to wait until after classes end. I wanted use lunch break to catch up with some friends."

"Alright then, I'll see you—"

"—Wait, actually, now that I think about it, why don't I introduce you to them? A good boyfriend should always know who his girlfriend's friends are, even if he personally hates them."

"What? When the hell did that become a rule when it came to dating? I may not be the most versed at dealing with romantic stuff, but even I know that rule has never existed ever and you're making things up to get me to do things. Besides, I'm pretty sure I already know who you're talking about and I'm more than sure those two hate me for what I said to you up on that roof." I bowed my head in deep apology as I continued, "So, please, spare your dear boyfriend from going through such anguish and do not parade him in front of your friends like he's some sort of dog show competition winner."

When I had said that, I had expected to get a whine back in response and her begging me to actually go through with it, but instead, I got her giggling like an absolute madman. Not one where it seemed that she was just pretending to be amused at what I was saying, but giggles that sounded very much real.

Eventually, my fake girlfriend's giggling ceased and she looked up at me with a bright, _bright_ smile, before stating, "Ah, alright, alright, if that's what you really want then I can't force you to come." Wait, you're actually gonna be reasonable? Who are you and what have you done with Sagami? "I'll just see you later after classes ends, okay?"

"A-Ah, okay," I respond bewilderedly, nodding my head once as I did so. That was then immediately followed up by the red-headed girl closing the distance in between the both of us and planting a small peck on my cheek, which made said part of my body redder than if she had just slapped it.

"I'll see you then, Hachiman~." With that sugary sweet sentiment, Sagami bounded off towards her classroom, leaving me standing in front of the door to my own class, rubbing the cheek that she had kissed like I had been, in fact, slapped across the cheek.

Woman, you really need to warn a man before you do stuff like that! Especially men who was awkward with women like myself! I nearly had a heart attack there, my heart was beating so fast!

My mental rant completed, I turn myself on a heel and simply stride right into my classroom, which door had been wide open the entire time as it always was before the class bell rang. The moment I walked through, however, I felt all of my momentum moving forwards be stopped when a heavy arm landed right across my shoulders. Knowing all of the classmates who knew me in this classroom, I had a pretty good guess as to who it was.

"Get your arm off me, Tobe," I couldn't help but grumble, all the while shooting the ape-like riajuu that was currently crushing me with his weight a withering glare. "Otherwise, you're going to give Ebina over there some ideas."

"Ah! Don't worry about me, Hikitani! I already got plenty of ideas from what's going on in front of me!"

"Oh, come on, Hiki-bro! How am I gonna do that when I just find out that you snagged yourself a girl! I never thought that it'd be Sagami-chan of all people, but congrats, man anyways!"

The two statements had been said in complete unison and coincidentally, I only really paid attention to one. Why? I liked my sanity that's why, and I'd rather not confront the rabbit hole into the madness that was BL. I hear looking straight at the contents of the necronomicon was a better idea if you wanted to keep your sanity, so I just ignored the exclamation and went on with responding to Tobe.

"Well, a few things happened…" I replied, scratching the back of my head and looking off to the side as I spoke with faux sheepishness. "Anyways, can I get to my seat now? I'm pretty sure class is gonna start in a minute."

"Oh, yeah, sorry 'bout that!" Tobe exclaimed in his usual way too loud way, lifting his arm off my shoulders before then placing both his hands on his hips and flashing me a toothy grin.

I blink at the sight and let out a small snort, shaking my head disbelievingly as I made my way over to my desk, which was on the side farthest away from the door to enter the class. It unfortunately wasn't as good as the seat as I had last year, which was a good combination of distance from the door and lack of prominence as I was smack dab in the middle row of the class. The prior aspect made it so that I could leave the class unnoticed pretty easily if I so wanted to and the latter was something that was good for when I wanted to nap, since I could use the bodies that were sitting in front of me to shield myself from view of the teacher.

My current desk had none of those things going for it. Like I said, it was on the side opposite if the door, so the time that it took me to get from there to the door was raised dramatically. It was also right next to a window, which wasn't a good place for someone to sit if they wanted to sleep since one would get natural light pouring in on him at all times, which made taking a nap in class undetected rather difficult.

Other than those few things, I couldn't really complain about the thing too much. It was a desk for Buddha's sake. I could sit in it and not have to worry about it breaking from under me, and that's all anyone really needed out of it, so mine for the year would be perfectly serviceable.

As I walked over to aforementioned piece of wood and metal, I found that I was center of my class's attention, which I had fully expected after Tobe's little announcement to the world. I'm more than sure everyone here found it hard to believe that I of all people managed to get a girlfriend, but there was one set of eyes that drew my own attention as I dragged myself over to my desk – those being the pair of blue irises that belonged to a certain king riajuu, Hayama Hayato.

Due to the class's seating arrangement, I had to walk pass the guy to get to my desk, which unfortunately forced me to have to at least acknowledge his existence. Considering my distinct hatred of him and vice versa, that was something I knew we both rather not have to do at all, but such is life.

Waking past said riajuu, I found myself nearly being stopped dead in my tracks by something he whispered as I passed, "Meet me on the roof when lunch begins."

Acting like nothing had been said at all, I simply nodded my head slightly as I continued onto my desk and sat in it, all the while cursing my own existence at the tediousness that my day has already begun to show.

…

 **8/14/20XX - Noon**

…

The lunch bell should've been a source of reprieve for me. It always had in the past. A quick, half-hour of reprieve from the sometimes mind-numbing experience of listening to teachers do their jobs. Usually, I would leave the room and head to my spot next to the tennis courts, and just intake my usual lunch of yakisoba bread and MAXX coffee in blissful silence. Then, I could turn my brain off and simply just exist for forty minutes.

Today, however, it seems that I would be deprived of my decompression time. Why? Because Hayama Hayato, king of the riajuus and the one person I really hated on the world, said so.

Honestly, I didn't even know why I was bothering showing up to meet him. I already knew what he was going to do. He was probably going to ask me about why I decided to date Sagami and then bitch about some shit that I could care less about. You hear me, you riajuu bastard?! I could care less, so please just let me enjoy my lunch in peace!

"Ah, so you actually came, Hikigaya-kun?" That was the first thing I heard when I opened the door leading to the roof, and that instantly made me want to turn around and leave so I wouldn't have to deal with the blonde. "A part of me thought that you were just lying when you nodded back earlier."

"I haven't even gotten past the door, you idiot," I couldn't help but spit back in response as I emerged from behind the cover of the door I was in the middle of opening. "How about before you go assuming the identities of people you can't even see, you wait until they actually reveal themselves?"

The blonde let out a sheepish laugh and began scratching at the back of his head in response to what I said. Pft. Of course that's how you'd react. Don't get offended like a normal person, just keep acting like the caricature of an all-around nice guy you are. "Ahaha… My bad."

 _Sigh_. Looking off to the side as to make sure I didn't have to make eye-contact with the one thing in the world that annoyed me as much as he did, I tried to steer this ship onto the course that got me out of here the fastest. "So, what did you want to talk to me about? I'm assuming this has something do with the news about my relationship with Minami?"

"Ah, right on the mark… You really can read people like a book, can't you?" Oi, why are you talking like you're some anime character who consciously plays the part of a good-natured joker, just to get serious when they're challenged to a fight? If you're going jump into being seriousness, do it from the start! I have better things to be doing! Things like nothing at all! I really like doing nothing at all, you know?!

"Stop trying to selfishly make that out to be something more than it actually is." Suddenly, my eyes found the need to look at the riajuu king, but only to glare at the person before him. "All I did was use my common sense. Oh, and don't you dare think more of me proving you wrong, either."

Hayama blinked in response to my own reply and eventually, after a long stint of silence from the riajuu, began to laugh uncontrollably. I don't know where exactly why he was laughing, but for some reason, he was doing so and I could only stand there and wonder if I had somehow broken him.

"Oi, Hayama, I can't believe I'm about to ask this, but are you alright?" I asked whilst taking a step back in fear of my own safety. I've never seen the guy act like this, so I feel like I was justified in my concern.

"Ah, don't worry! I'm fine… I'm fine…!" Hayama tried to reassure me of his mental wellness. Unfortunately, he was laughing while he said that, so I wasn't really able to believe him. "For some reason… I just—I just… found what you said to be really funny."

Funny? Are you sure you're alright, Hayama? I just read you like book and you're going to call what I said 'funny'? So wait, you're like this and people are going to call me the creepy and twisted one? That's hi-fucking-larious, if I say so myself.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

When the blonde riajuu finally calmed himself down and we were finally able to resume our conversation, which took quite a bit at time, he began to explain to me as to why exactly he dragged me out to the roof.

"I thought you were someone who disliked fake relationships?" The blonde asked me with all of the seriousness in the world, which, in my opinion, was a rather large improvement from his laughing.

Apparently, he was curious about the nature of my relationship with Sagami and legitimacy. To hell, if I knew why, though. It literally had nothing to do with him or his clique.

"Yeah." Was the answer I decided to go with. Short, sweet, simple, and direct to the point. "So? I don't get what it has to do with me being Minami's boyfriend—?"

"—Wait, do you seriously not understand what I'm trying to get at? The last time I saw you two within two feet of one another, one ran away in tears and the other became the most hated person in Sobu." Oi, I remember that just fine. I was there, you jackass. "You're seriously not going to stand there and tell me that you're legitimately her boyfriend, are you?"

Not knowing how to disprove the point that he was trying to make as it was firmly rooted in both logic and sense, I simply allowed silence to answer Hayama.

"Then why exactly are you pretending to be, if you aren't? Does it have something to do with what happened on your birthday and that place you showed us?"

More silence from me was all that Hayama got in response to that next question of his, or rather, that was the case before I decided to actually say something to just end this conversation already. "…And if that did happen to be the case?" My eyebrows furrowed slightly as I continued speaking, "What exactly would you do?"

It seemed that it was now Hayama's turn to answer questions with silence. "…Does she at least know that your two's relationship isn't real?"

"Oh, of course," I can't help but reply with that immediately, my voice being drowned in disbelieving amusement. "This entire thing was her idea. Do you seriously think that _I_ , of all people, would come up with a plan like this?" I let out a quick scoff as a smirk formed on my lips. "Just what kind of person do you think I am, Hayama?"

The king of Sobu High School opened his mouth, probably to offer an answer to the rhetoric question I just posed to him, but stopped himself after a second or two. I'm guessing he did so because he realized that saying something then, in the heat of the moment, would've made the words that came out of his mouth come out sounding a little too angry, brash, or frustrated – something that wouldn't be too fitting for the man everyone admired.

Eventually, however, Hayama was able to man up and say what was actually on his mind. "I think…" he turned his eyes to look down at the ground and began to clench his fists tightly, "…that you're the kind of person who wouldn't have gone along with something like this… The way you are now at the very least. Back when we talked at Kyoto, maybe, but not now. You're different from how you were then, I think."

…

Silence reigned supreme on that roof after he said all that. I was honestly surprised that Hayama of all people would've been able to say that. About me, nonetheless. Wow, you must really loathe yourself if you think that about the person you hate most in the world. I don't know if I should thank you or pity you with all my heart.

After about thirty or so seconds of nothing going on between the two of us, where the off-and-on gusts of wind seemed to punctuate the silence that compensated for the distance that separated he and I, I eventually got fed up with all the waiting for someone to do something and did something, which, in this case, was sigh tiredly.

"Look…" I began, speaking as if I were speaking to an infant who just had a temper tantrum over something there was no way they could understand, "if I had any other way of handling this situation, do you seriously think that I'd be continuing to allow that woman to parade me around under the title of her boyfriend?"

"…No, but—"

"—But nothing. What I do _there_ isn't like the shit we deal with here at school." I could feel myself getting more and more riled up, the more I spoke. "I don't simply get to stick to what I believe in and still have everything end up okay for me. Compromises need to be made sometimes, otherwise—" Realizing that I was just now ranting at the blonde in front of me, I quickly stopped myself from speaking, inhaled deeply through my nostrils, and shook my head violently in my frustration.

Why the hell was I even bothering to explain myself in this situation? It's not like he's someone I owe an explanation to. There were plenty of people who did when it pertained to the whole Sagami situation, but Hayama Hayato certainly wasn't one of those people. Not by a long shot. Why did I even come to this rooftop in the first place?

Deciding that this entire conversation wasn't worth me not being able to eat lunch, I quickly turn and start making my way towards the door back into the school.

"Hey, hey, where exactly do you think you're going?!" Hayama yelled after me as I walked away, but unfortunately he had only done so when I was already two-thirds of the way there. He must've hesitated for some reason. "What were you going to say just then—?!"

About halfway through Hayama's first question, I had already made it back to the door. By the time he began to ask his second, I had already started opening it and walking through. Right as he got to 'then', the heavy, metal door, which was meant to close on its own, had already slammed itself shut behind me.

I let a snort out through my nostrils. Thank heavens for that…

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

As I walked back down the hallway leading to the special building, or rather, the wing of the school where most clubs did their business, I couldn't help but reflect on something I said during my little rant earlier.

I had said that the life I led here at school and the one that I led in the _Inverse_ were two completely different things that needed to be handled differently, and in many cases, that statement was spot on.

Mistakes could be made in my life away from the _Inverse_. Decisions that I made could be taken back and made up for. That, on the other hand, simply wasn't the case with the other half of my life. No mistakes could be made and every decision needed to be stood by, no matter the consequence.

Regrets were for people who loathed the past and inhibitions were for those who feared what came in the future, and to do my job, one needed to get rid of both and live entirely in the present to keep sane. That's all that there was to it in the long run.

…

 **Chapter End.**

…

 **Social Stats - Hikigaya Hachiman:**

 **Smarts - 5:** Webster.

 **Moxie - 5:** Unyielding.

 **Ability - 5:** Savvy.

 **Appeal - 1:** Dead Fish.

 **Compassion - 3:** Sympathetic.


	9. Chapter 8 point 5

Chapter posted early to celebrate 8-man's birthday. Also, gonna be hosting a QnA on SpaceBattles. Check out the most recent update there for information as to why.

…

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** Higgle Freaking Boo Bop. I do not give a fuck.

…

 **8/14/20XX - Evening**

…

After all that happened with Hayama, it would probably surprise no one that I ended up feeling pretty irritated for the rest of the day, especially since the guy sat right in front of me in class.

To even have to look at the back of his head pissed me off, so most of the time during teachers' lessons, my eyes were firmly planted on the window next to me. Nothing really happened out there that actually interested me, but it was better than the alternative.

At the very least, Hayama seemed to understand that I didn't want to be talked to, by him for the rest of the day and so, kept to himself. Didn't even look at me as I trudged past him and his partial clique (only Ebina, Tobe, and one of the other two guys whose name I couldn't remember for the life of me were put into the same class as him) to my desk and sat down. That's one thing about the riajuu king that I really did appreciate. He conformed to his 'perfect, nice guy' stereotype so much that he would often times drop things a more stubborn person might cling onto until the bitter end.

When the class bell finally rung for the last time today, I texted Yuigahama that I was going to be late getting to the club room, stating what we discussed a few days ago as my reason, and quickly went to meet Sagami for our private meeting. That entire scenario, in contrast to what happened with Hayama (though I honestly should've expected things to turn out bad from the very moment he asked to talk to me, given the fact we mutually hated each other's guts went pretty well.

The two of us simply met up in the hallway, as she thought that she would have to come to my class to get me, and she led me, though I'd be more tempted to call it dragging as she grabbed my arm and started moving before I even knew what was happening, (something I didn't appreciate at all) to somewhere where the two of us could speak in private, which happened to be the very same roof where we spoke during the Cultural Festival.

Once there, and once we sure that we hadn't been followed, the two of us immediately dropped the boyfriend/girlfriend schtick and spoke like we normally would to one another: calm, and professional. The best way to describe it would be to compare it to how business partners would treat each other, before never seeing each other again after the deal was finished. We spoke a lot like that because in a lot of ways, that's what we were: two people using each other to further their own gains.

When we were up there, we spoke about a few things relating to the ruse we were trying to pull off and how I felt like the termination process should begin, and Sagami agreed, stating that she managed to work up the courage to tell her mother that she wanted to be transferred over to the Humanities course for third-years – or rather, the route she wanted to take from the outset if not for said maternal figure's approval. I didn't pry on the results of that conversation as I didn't feel it to be any of my business and simply took comfort in the fact that talking to her mother, meant that my healing her had worked out as intended, which was always a relief in my line of work.

After all that was done with, the two of us left the roof. I made to head towards the Service Club room but was almost immediately stopped from doing so by Sagami when I tried. Apparently, she wanted to walk me over to my club for whatever reason. She never really bothered to elaborate on why, but I saw no reason to deny her at the time, so I decided to let her tag along and that's how I got to where I was now, walking through the hallway with her on my arm… for whatever reason…

"Do you really have to hold onto my arm like that?" I asked my 'girlfriend' as we walked through the empty hall. "There's no one around us right now. It's not like we have to—"

"—What would've been the point of me coming along in the first place if not to keep up appearances?" The redhead whispered back in reply, cutting me off completely as she proceeded to tighten the hold she had on my arm, which probably would've hurt and/or been unpleasant if not for the pair of pillows that lessened the pressure. "Just deal with it for now, alright?"

Being in the bad mood that I was, there were plenty of things I wanted to say in response to that, but unfortunately, the Service Club room came into view before I could. _Sigh_. Looks like you've been saved from feeling the brunt of my wrath, for now, Sagami, but let it be known! Be it today or ten years from now! These biting remarks will get you some day!

When we stepped up in front of the door, I had expected the girl on my arm to let go of said appendage, but for some reason, she didn't. I tugged on it once or twice, but her grip didn't even budge a little.

"Oi, you there?" I whispered to Sagami, leaning slightly towards her as I did so as I didn't want the people inside to overhear me. My words seemed to pull her out of whatever thoughts she had lost herself in, as the moment they hit her ear, she flinched back and blinked at me like I had grown another head on my shoulder. Having seen the same thing near a hundred times over from my experience dealing with Isshiki, I paid the reaction no mind. "You can let go of my arm now, you know?"

"A-ah…" She began to speak, her voice faltering as she did so, but unlike a lot of people I know, I included, she stopped herself from speaking and took a moment to collect herself before continuing, "…right. My bad."

Sagami then proceeded to let go of my arm, which I was thankful for since I no longer had to feel the physical embodiment of temptation pressing up against its side anymore.

Seeing that as my cue to go on ahead and leave, I reached out and gripped the handle to the door, but before sliding it open, I looked over my shoulder at my 'girlfriend' and bid her farewell in my usual, informal way. "I'll be seeing you."

Sliding aforementioned door open, I prepared my ears to be assaulted by the usual shrill, non-sensual greeting from Yuigahama, but as I stepped through the doorway, I found myself being pulled back suddenly by the lower-back portion of my overcoat. Then, before I even comprehend what was going on, I felt an all too familiar, soft warmth press up against my left cheek, which soon began to feel warmer for different reasons.

"I'll be seeing you too, Hachiman~!" Sagami whispered directly into my ear, before letting me go and scampering off down the hallway.

Blinking owlishly, I turn to watch her leave, wondering just what in the hell that was about. Oi, didn't I tell you that there was no one around to flaunt our 'relationship' in front of? What the hell was the point of that?

Shaking my head in disbelief at the girl's actions, I turn my head back to what was in front of me and that's when I realized where my body was currently located. I was standing right in the doorway, just about crossing the threshold into the club room.

Now, why was that important? Well, that meant that the entire display had been witnessed by the people inside, which just so happened to include: Yuigahama Yui, Yukinoshita Yukino, and, for some reason, Isshiki Iroha. All three of those people were glaring at me like I had tried to shank them in the back with an unsharpened pencil that turned out to be made of styrofoam, instead of anything that was actually sharp.

I blinked at them like a deer standing in the headlights of a car that nearly hit it and simply uttered the same greeting that I always gave, "Yo…" For some reason though, maybe it was all the tension in the air, I felt like that stopped car in front of me was going to suddenly accelerate and run me over anyway. Holding my hands up as a sign to keep their blood thirst in check, for the time being, I tell them all, "I can explain that."

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"So, Hikigaya-kun…" For the first time since I accidentally brought her to the _Inverse_ , Yukinoshita Yukino spoke to me. Unfortunately for me, however, she had chosen to do so with a voice that bared no good tidings. Actually, it was more akin to an angry sea god telling me that I had to answer a question correctly, despite it being the type of question that could only be answered with an opinion of some sort, or have a typhoon get sent to your hometown. Clearly, I was on eggshells right now. "Would you care to explain to the three of us as to what exactly _that_ was?"

To make a short, but also very painful story shorter than it already was, after stating that I could provide them an explanation, I sat myself down in my usual seat on the other side of the table from my fellow club members and Isshiki. Now, the three were sending me death glares that, when combined, made me want to jump out a window to the much more merciful fate death.

"Look, I don't know if if Yuigahama has already told you about this…" As those words came out of my mouth, I quickly remembered that I had actually told the pink-haired airhead all about this situation already. Why the hell was she _also_ pissed and glaring at me? I can understand Yukinoshita and Isshiki, but you to Yuigahama? Has your social butterfly-ness caused you to not take the just side in this situation? I must say that I'm disappointed profoundly by all of this. To have me back stabbed twice in the month? Shame.

I would've said all of that to the Brutus-esque airhead through one of my patent glares, but, unfortunately, my eyes were still firmly glued to a certain ice demon in human skin looking like she wanted to tear _my_ skin off and wear it.

"Yuigahama-san? What does she have to do with anything? Last I checked, I asked _you_ , the human pile of trash, the question and not her, so please, go get yourself a pair of ears that actually work. I suggest a graveyard since even those seem to work better than—"

"—Okay, okay! I'll explain!" Knowing that I was caving into her demands and standing fully behind my decision to do so, I proceeded to give her the answer I knew would appease her, "She's a _perp_ for a _case_ that I was working." The ice queen faltered slightly when I said all that. "To get into the final part of the _scene_ , I needed to get her to trust me completely and so, I accepted a request of hers. She just needed me to play as her boyfriend as to keep some boys in her class off of her for awhile, which we've already agreed to end at the start of next week, so it's not even going to last much longer. That's all _that_ was, I swear."

"O-Oh…" Yukinoshita stuttered back in reply, her cheeks suddenly flaring red in embarrassment. Her eyes began to dart to where Yuigahama and Isshiki sat, probably imploring one of them to help her. "Um…"

"Ah! I'm sorry, Yukinon!" As always, it was Yuigahama who saved the ice queen from her social faux paus. "That was my fault! I should've stepped in and stopped you before it got to that far! I just lost myself in my head when I saw Sagamin did… um, _that_. My bad."

Yuigahama let out an awkward laugh after she said all of that. Yukinoshita sent her a glare, but it was completely unlike the one she just sent me. The one she sent Yuigahama was withering and full of friendly affection that said: 'It's alright. It wasn't completely your fault. Please stop feeling bad. You're making _me_ feel bad.'

As the two reconciled (hurry up and commit to the Yuri right already!), I found two questions running rampant through my head.

The first was the one I asked to my flaxen-haired kouhai – who was currently not focused on the two, other reconciling females and was, instead, looking down at her lap with her hand cupping her chin, muttering to herself about things I couldn't hear from how far away she was sitting – every time that I saw her: "what are you even doing here?"

The second revolved around what Yuigahama just said: "why exactly was she 'lost in her head'?" What was she wondering about? Was it the kiss on the cheek Sagami gave me before leaving? Did it trouble her?

No, that made no sense. She already knew that it meant nothing to either of us, why would she be troubled by that? Unless… Hmm, I can't believe I forgot about that. Damn, I'm going to have to talk to Sagami about this.

Seriously, why is it that girls can never seem to get along?

…

 **Chapter End.**


	10. Chapter 9

More chapters for your face to enjoy. Enjoy.

…

 **Mandatory Disclaimer:** Whatever, whatever, whatever.

…

 **8/14/20XX - Evening (2)**

…

To say that I didn't expect something like what was currently happening to occur would be a lie, but that didn't mean that I was actually prepared for it. One can learn the date of their own mortality, but that doesn't mean that they themselves were prepared to pass, right at that moment. Things like that needed to be eased into before full-acceptance, which, unfortunately, wasn't a luxury I could be afforded, it seems.

"So, um, Hikigaya-kun…" The moment I heard Yukinoshita sounding unsure of the words he was about to utter, I should've known something was up and bolted out the door, but unluckily, I decided to stay and hear her out, and for my troubles, I got me a question that I knew would take me more than a moment to fully answer. "About those investigations you conduct…" Probably realizing her own trepidation, the ice queen suddenly covered her mouth with a fist and (tried to, but ultimately failed to) clear her throat before speaking again, "Would you mind if I—" She suddenly jumped as if someone jabbed her in the side with their elbow or something, "—um, I mean, _we_ asked you a few questions?"

Having thought that we would go back to our daily routine after all that I said about my 'relationship' with Sagami, I had reached into my bag and brought out a book to help increase me some of my social stats, but seeing that I wasn't done answering questions, it looks like you are once again going unraised my very low _Appeal_ stat. You'll get past the number one some day.

"I don't see why not," I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly as I gave her my answer. "Though, before you begin, I will say right now that I withhold the right to talk about anything that I feel uncomfortable with sharing."

"Of course," Yukinoshita stated with a single nod of her head. "I'm sure that none of us here would do something as abhorrent as pressuring you to answer something you yourself didn't consent to." She then looked at the girls sitting to get right and left, doing so in that order. "Right?"

"Of course!" Yuigahama exclaimed way too loudly, pumping her fist into the air as she did so.

"Y-Yeah, who would ever do something like that…?" Was Isshiki's response to the same question, which didn't sell me at all on her innocence. _Sigh._ You were totally anticipating doing just that, weren't you? Well, whatever. At least you were already put in place by the iciest of ice queens.

"Alright, now that's been established, I would personally like to know why you chose to keep the existence of the _Inverse_ and your connection to it from us," aforementioned ice queen began, starting things off with a 100 mph four-seam fastball. "Did you simply not trust us enough to tell us?"

I couldn't help but let out a sigh when I heard that question. This was going to be a bitch to have to try and answer without unintentionally offending them.

"I'm not going to lie to you all and say that wasn't one of the reasons, at least at first." Was how I decided I wanted to begin my response, which was a good decision considering that they seemed more understanding than hurt. Alright, now onto phase 2… "At some point, it turned from that to simply not wanting you all dealing with the baggage that I have to on a daily basis."

"And what exactly is this 'baggage' that you believed us unable to handle, Hikigaya-kun?" I almost flinched at the venomous response I got back from the youngest Yukinoshita. Ah, shit. She's misconstruing my words! Quick, Hachiman! Come up with a good defense before she gets the other two believing that it was because of their gender or some shit like that!

"It's nothing like what you're thinking," I state, a good amount of force backing my words. I needed to get this through to her before I'm labeled 'Hiki-sexist-kun'. "What I do in the _Inverse_ isn't like some part-time job that I only have to worry about a couple times a week, it's something I need to think about every moment I'm awake. If I'm not working a _case_ , I'm improving parts about myself to help move future _cases_ along faster than the last. If I'm not doing that, I'm either procuring equipment or information that I need for my trips into the _Inverse_ , or just pondering it, in general. It's a round the clock type of thing."

As I explained, I noticed that the three girls were now looking at me with wide eyes and slightly open mouths. Oi, quit looking at me like I just transformed into a bear or something. You'll catch flies looking like that, y'know?

"Unlike you three, my current, or rather, my lifestyle before I found out worked well with that sort of thing," I continued. "I, being the loner I am, usually have no social ties to worry about whatsoever, which allows me the opportunity to be out doing things. There have been nights where I don't even come back home at night because I'm chasing a piece of information. Do you three, the way your lives were back I first met you, seriously believe that you had the time to do the same?"

Basically, what I was trying to get across to them was that it was my belief that none of them could afford to spend the time that I did working on _cases_ and that's why I chose to keep them out of the loop. It wasn't the most truthful of answers, but it still held water under close examination.

Yuigahama was a social butterfly and had shallow relationships a plenty to keep track of; Yukinoshita was part of the most affluent family in the city and doing the things I did would put her family's reputation, and in turn, her, at risk; and Isshiki was juggling being the manager of the men's soccer club and also being the student council president, all while being a first year student. None of that really made me think they were able to take on the burden that was being an _investigator_. Not to imply that I thought they couldn't, as they were all very capable (well, maybe except Yuigahama) when they put their minds to it, but I didn't want to add onto the already massive loads they had on their shoulders unnecessarily.

"I-I mean… if you had just asked us…" Of course, Yuigahama, the freest of them all, was the first to try and refute my claim, but she really was doing an awful job of it. She couldn't even look me in the eye and say it. Her eyes kept bouncing left and right as if she were watching a game of table tennis. "I think…" Oi, if you're going to tell me lies, then you should at least— Oh… She was looking me dead in the eyes now. She must've decided to get serious. "No, I _know_! I know that we would've helped you, no matter what we had planned! I mean, thinking back on it, you were basically doing the same thing every time we dragged you out to hang out, right?"

I didn't know what made me the most bewildered. The fact that Yuigahama made an observation that was actually spot on and very insightful, or the observation itself. Still, the combination of both was a deadly combination that made me flinch back and utter the single word that ran through my mind, "What?"

" _Mou_ , don't make me spell it out for you, you meanie!" Oi, why the hell are you the one complaining? All I'm asking you to do is elaborate on a point you just made? How is that 'mean'? You know what's really 'mean'? Calling people names for no reason like how you just did! Also, stop looking all embarrassed and bashful, I'm the victim here! "I mean, like… You do all of these things with _cases_ and _investigations_ to help other people, right?"

I couldn't help but nod my head. I may be the kind of guy who couldn't take a compliment and would do everything in my power to diminish it, but to say that I didn't care about helping people when I just said that I would regularly trade in beloved sleep to heal them faster would be utterly asinine of me. Sure, there were a lot of perks to continuing to investigate (just ask my bank account), but they couldn't justify me risking my life day in and day out for three years. They just couldn't, which, at that point, means that I actually started to like helping people.

"And you just said that you spend so much time doing it, so I know that it must mean a lot to you…" Yuigahama trailed off, casting her gaze down to the ground as a healthy fluster suddenly appeared on her cheeks, "but despite that, you still find a way to make time for us…" Suddenly, her face got all serious. "Which means that we should able to do the same for you! So, you shouldn't feel bad about asking us to do the same!"

Silence then proceeded to resound through the air between the two of us. Not knowing how to respond to all of that, I simply stood there dumbly, staring at Yuigahama with wide eyes and she did the same, though she did so looking a lot less surprised. Time being an ever-advancing concept that moved forwards no matter what forces got in its way, the seconds continued to tick by as the two of us stood in each other's gazes and as they did so, I felt my face get increasingly hotter, which prompted me to seek salvation by turning my eyes somewhere else than on her, though they only ended up finding things that only aggravated me further.

" _Sigh._ This conversation took a much different turn than to what I was anticipating…" I heard Yukinoshita mumble that to herself as she closed her eyes and massaged her temple with fingers.

"Wow, to think that Yuigahama-senpai was bold enough to make plays so blatantly…" Looking down at the desk with her lithe fingers cupping her chin, that was Isshiki's response to what just happened to me and the pink-haired airhead.

Raising my right hand up in a fist to mouth level, I loudly, and purposefully, clear my throat to get all of their minds from out of the gutters and onto me. Once that was achieved, I very quickly asked them in hopes of changing the topic, "Any more questions?"

"Ah, senpai, I have a question!" Isshiki was the one to step to the plate. I blink at the energy she said that with and turn my full attention towards the student council president, which apparently prompted her to deploy all her faux cute attacks as she smiled at me brightly and raised both her hands – both being lightly balled – to about shoulder level. "Did you have to buy all the stuff you had on inside the _Inverse_ -thing-a-majig yourself?"

"Uh, are you talking about my clothes and equipment and stuff?" I asked, to which Isshiki nodded her head vigorously. "Oh, um, I got everything at first for free when I first awakened my persona, but over the years, I've had to pay for upgrades and other equipment out of my own pocket with the money I get from killing shadows."

"Oooooh…" Was the response Isshiki chose to give as she went back to her usual contemplating pose, which didn't last long at all as, only a few seconds later, she continued, "That can't all be very cheap, can it, Senpai?" I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. It most certainly wasn't cheap at all to keep myself well-equipped, but thankfully, I was the only one who needed anything so buying stuff didn't cost me a lot in the grand scheme of things. "So, how much money do you have? You must have a lot if you can so easily afford all that, right?"

It didn't take me long to figure out what she was trying to get at. Isshiki was a money grabber like I was. She liked to have and she liked to keep it, just like I did. So, knowing her, she was probably trying to see how much I've made over time to see if she could use her charms to get me to use it on her.

Now, one might think that I was too smart to fall for such tactics and would keep the amount of money I had tucked inside my secret hiding place at home to myself, but unfortunately, if there was anything I liked more than having money, it was flaunting the amount I had in others' faces passive aggressively – something I don't get to do a lot of unfortunately. So, seeing an opportunity, I jumped on it. I mean, with all of the grinding I have to do, I feel as though I can afford myself this one pleasure.

"About ¥3,000,000, as of right now. All of which gained through killing shadows and pawning items get from the _Inverse_."

If Isshiki had chosen to drink anything at that moment, I'm more than sure she would have elected to spit the liquid out as she stood up from her seat suddenly, her chair scraping against the floor as she did so.

"Wah?! So much?!" Yuigahama yelled out in shock. Glancing over at her, she was flinching back and looking at me with an expression that could only say 'surprised beyond all belief'.

In contrast, Yukinoshita, the rich girl she was, barely even reacted to what I had said and just sipped on her tea absentmindedly. Oi, just because you're in a position where such large amounts of money are commonplace and unimpressive, that doesn't mean that you have to act like it! At least show some amount of reaction, will you—? Ah, wait! There's the reaction I was looking for! …Wait, why is your gaze being directed out in front of me instead of directly at me? Is there—?

" _Seeennnpai_!" The moment I heard those Isshiki say that I felt a cold chill run down the length of my spine. Reluctantly looking over to where Yukinoshita was looking, I found my line of sight immediately taken up by hazel pupils. It seems that my student council president has deemed it fit to lean so forward that our faces were directly level with one another and about fifteen centimeters apart. "When is the next time you plan on going to the _Inverse_?"

"Um… tomorrow? Why are you—?" Before I could finish, she grabbed me by the collar and pulled me forwards, so that her mouth was hovering just next to my left ear.

"Good, because I want you to take me tomorrow! I feel like I'm in a rather altruistic mood all of a sudden if you get what I mean."

Suddenly, she let go of my collar and stood back up straight. The moment she knew that my eyes had followed her all the way up, she smiled at me dopely with a slight tilt of the head.

Tell me again why it is that I choose to continue to associate myself with you, Isshiki. Seriously, tell me. I honestly don't understand it myself at this point.

…

 **8/15/20XX - Evening**

…

What was Isshiki Iroha to me? If I had been asked this same question just a few months ago, I'm sure that my answer would be drastically different to the one I'd give now.

See, back all those months ago, she was nothing more than a person I had wronged and hence, owed a fairly large debt to. So, naturally, I would go out of my way and do things for her that I'd normally never do, and that was the only reason I'd ever consider spending time with her. Things have somewhat changed, however.

My association with her was no longer solely reliant upon my debt and was now mainly because a part of me had learned to enjoy the strange, little dynamic we had developed. Sure, a fair amount of it was based on us irritating the ever-living shit out of one another, but I enjoyed the fact that there was a girl in the world who, no matter what we did or how much time we spent with one another, I never had to worry about when it came to misconstruing the feelings she had for me.

I was someone she used like a tool. No matter what we did with one another, her goal, in the end, was to manipulate me into doing something for her, that she could've totally done by herself if she just battened down and put her nose to the proverbial grindstone. Yet, instead, she came to rely on me. Why? Well, I couldn't say this and be one-hundred percent sure about it, but it was probably because I was easy for her to manipulate and from that, I'm sure that she had just garnered some sort of preference for me, in that context, over time.

Our relationship was very much give and take, but it just so happened that I tended to give more than I actually received in return. Did I have a problem with that? No, not really.

Isshiki, despite her ever faux-cutesy exterior, was someone who never tried to hide how foxy she was from me and I took a lot of solace in that fact. Maybe too much, given the fact that I'm pretty sure I've done more manual labor for her than all of her lackeys on the Student Council combined, but as I said earlier, she was someone I never had to put too much thought into to fully understand and that was something I found myself cherishing.

In a sort of roundabout way, out of all the people I talked to, she was the most upfront with her motivations that anyone knew. So, that's why I made the decision that I did regarding her request for me to bring her to the _Inverse_.

Would I come to regret that decision in the future? Oh, most definitely. That's just how people were. Every choice had a bad outcome associated with it and if the reward wasn't substantially more positive than the negative, one would always focus way too much on the bad than good. The only way to combat such happenings was to live your life and stand by your decisions, no matter how badly they turned out in the end.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

"Hey, um, senpai…?" The sound of Isshiki calling out to me made my march forwards come to a dead stop. Looking over my shoulder to look at my flaxen-haired kohai as to indicate that I was paying attention, I waited for her to say what she wanted to say. "I get that you're going out on a bone for me here, but is _this_ really necessary?"

Blinking in response to the question, I turn my head back to what was directly in front of me and let out an affirmative hum. "It's for your own good," I reminded her as I resumed my trek forwards. "The last thing I want is you wandering off and doing something to get us both in trouble."

"I get that and all, senpai," Isshiki began exasperatedly, which was then followed by me feeling something lightly tug on the object of her ire, "but did you seriously have to put a leash on me? How stupid do you think I am?"

What she was referring to was the rather thick piece of rope that connected my belt to Isshiki. Before going back into _scene_ located in that karaoke place, I forced her to tie it around her waist, so that I could always keep track of her while inside.

"Considering that you wanted to come with me to a place that could very easily get you killed when you have no ability to defend yourself, despite me having told you near a hundred times that it was a stupid idea, do you really want me to answer that?" I asked back, making sure that the tone of my voice was as blunt as possible.

Immediately after me saying that I was presented with the sweet sound of silence from my kohai, which was something that made me want to smile a little. Even without turning to look at her, I could tell that she was pouting at the back of my head and that was something that brought me great joy. Great joy, of course, being completely offset by my already present annoyance, thus only making me want to smile a little.

"Oi quit it with your whining. Do I need to remind you that this was your idea? I wouldn't need to drag you along by a leash if you didn't want to come along in the first place."

"I didn't know that you were intending to put a leash on me when I first asked!" Isshiki exclaimed loudly in her anger. "Also, what are you going to do when you have to fight one of those shadow-thingies or something? Won't you have to let me go anyways? So, why don't you just save yourself the trouble and let me go now instead of later?"

"What do you think I'm doing here, kohai-chan?" Puppet, who had spent the last few minutes floating out of sight just over my head, asked the person I was forcibly leading along through the _scene_. "I'm gonna take over keeping you on your leash when Eight has to fight!"

" _Mou_ …" I could practically hear 'kohai-chan' pouting behind me. Well, actually, I _could_ hear her pouting since she always seemed to make _that_ noise every time she pouted at me. "I have a name, y'know?"

"Puppet doesn't like to use real names while we're in the _Inverse_ ," I informed Isshiki, knowing that she didn't have any prior knowledge of my wooden assistant's many eccentricities. Sensing a 'why' about to come from the flaxen-haired girl, I tacked on another answer, "Something about her not wanting to risk our real-life identities being revealed to the people we're trying to heal or whatever."

That explanation never really made sense to me seeing that no matter what we did, the _Inverse_ and the real world remained separate from one another, but I just went along with it. No need to question a nonsensical system if it didn't cause any problems. Doing something like that was really just doing unnecessary work and I wasn't one to do unnecessary things.

"Exactly, Eight!" Puppet said in response to my explanation. I can't even see you, but I already know that you're smiling like a proud mother up above me, which prompted an irritated grumble to come from Isshiki. That, in turn, made _me_ want to smile a little.

Ah… Is there anything in the world more satisfying for a senpai like myself than annoying the ever living shit out of my kohai? If there is, I still probably wouldn't trade it in for the feeling I get from this.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Compromising and making changes to my own plans simply to appease the needs of other people was never something that I was very keen about. Even after becoming an _investigator,_ a position where having the ability to do so freely would be very useful, I still never really gained an appreciation for it.

Sure, nowadays I would do so if the situation called for it, but that didn't mean I _liked_ doing it and that, as per usual, meant that I avoided it like the plague or areas with a lot of people in confined spaces.

Why? Well, there was simply something unsettling about the practice of allowing my original thoughts to be manipulated by others. I was someone who liked to march to the beat of my own drum and blaze my own trails, and all of those other well-known phrases that basically meant that I liked controlling what happened in my life.

So, knowing that about me, why did I decide to let Isshiki tag along to the _Inverse_ with me? The answer to that question was actually quite simple. See, as I stated earlier, I could change my plans if the situation called for it and as far as I saw it, this situation most definitely called for it.

See, this was something that I very quickly realized when Isshiki asked me to bring her to the _Inverse_. People very rarely learned lessons on their own. Sure, you could throw a ton of information at someone's face and expect it to stick without ever properly demonstrating how it worked, but that very rarely happened seamlessly unless that person was already more intelligent than most. For those who weren't already gifted with superior comprehension abilities (aka most everyone in the world), they would need whatever concepts demonstrated for them to understand fully.

Unfortunately, there was a huge problem with that sort of process. If the teacher's way of demonstrating the concept was flawed, it would mean that the student's own view of it would too be flawed. A bad teacher always led to a bad lesson and in this case, it was clear that I was the wrong kind of teacher for the lesson I was trying to impart.

From the very moment I had stepped into the _Inverse_ with those who had come to celebrate my birthday, my goal was to teach them all that it was a dangerous place that could very easily get them killed and I did so repeatedly, but that was akin to telling a friend a game was an extremely hard while playing it with a handmade controller that consisted of mainly bananas, meaning that even if I got a huge chunk of my health bar deplenished, they could blame it all on the fact that I was very clearly not taking it seriously. The first event that told me that this may have been the case was Yuigahama going into the _scene_ on her own and nearly getting killed, but Isshiki coming to me and asking to join me was the nail that really rammed it home.

A lot of the nine never really thought that the _Inverse_ was dangerous simply because I was too strong for myself to think anything to be a real danger. Sure, I had taken a few hits during my fight with Lilith, but me immediately shaking the damage off probably lessened any of worries they had.

"Oh, Yuigahama-senpai went into the place and nearly died? Oh, didn't she just end up getting saved by senpai? I'll be fine if I have him with me at all times!" That were probably the thoughts that were going through Isshiki's mind before asking to come here.

Very clearly, I needed to move to rectify such thoughts immediately. Not just for the sake of my own peace of mind, but their sakes as well. Thankfully, if my assumptions about what laid in the deeper bowels of this _scene_ were correct, then that'd be easy. All I needed was to get there.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

If I had to say one thing about the _scene_ that Isshiki, Puppet, and I were currently marching through, it had to be that it was one of the more boring cement hallways I've ever been in. Sure, it was absolutely swarming with shadows that had something to do with sexual reproduction, but I could barely find anything titillating about it at all. The only thing that was keeping me awake as I walked was the fact that I had a mission to see through and the occasional disgusted reaction from the young kohai I was leading along with a leash.

What could I say? They were all rather amusing.

" _Master Hikigaya, are you sure that what you're doing is a good idea?"_ Suddenly, the sound of Job's voice cut through the silence-filled vacuum that had been my brain as I navigated through this part of the _scene_.

Having been genuinely surprised by my initial persona's sudden appearance, I ended up asking back a question that was pretty benign comparatively, " _Oh, Job, that you? It's been awhile since you said something, hasn't it?"_

" _Please don't evade the question, Master Hikigaya."_

Mentally, I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Damn, how did this being that was floating around inside of my head figure out what I was trying to do? Oh, wait, that's actually pretty self-explanatory now that I think about it.

" _I'm not evading your questions, Job. If you listened to any of the countless monologues that I had on my way here, you should know that I'm fully confident that this is going to work."_

" _Even then, you must admit that it is a rather foolhardy path to go down. Surely, simply talking to your companions can reach the same conclusion. Isn't this going a bit too far?"_

" _Job, you've known me for over two years now, have you ever known me to be someone who willingly did anything excessive?"_ Subconsciously, I began to roll my shoulders as my aggravation with the conversation began to rise. " _I'm not a big enough idiot to risk doing this without putting thought into it first. You should know by now that I know what I'm doing."_

With that, silence refilled the insides of my mind and I let out a relieved sigh. Alright, time to get back to finding the next level to this _scene—_

Conveniently, just as that thought went through my mind, my eyes met with something that stood out from the monotony that was the cold, gray, and dead hallway that I was trying to keep from the forefront of my mind.

It was a Western-style door. Average-sized, plain, and white. There was absolutely nothing spectacular about it at all. Well, other than the small, yellow square that was smack dab in the middle of it. It looked like a piece of paper, a sticky note most likely, with something written/drawn on it, but I couldn't precisely tell what that something was from where I was standing.

"Hey, senpai, is that what we've been looking for this entire time?" Almost as if she was reading my mind, Isshiki popped in from out of nowhere and pointed out the thing that had caught my attention. I could hear a bit of relief in my young kohai's voice as she spoke, which told me that she too had gotten bored of our current location.

" _See, Job? My presence here with her has sucked all of the danger from this place. You get what I'm saying now? No matter what I do, this plan needed to take place. For their own safety."_ I got no response from my initial persona, which was to be expected. He was way too serious a man to let himself be influenced by something as petty as what just ran through my head. I liked him for that.

"Looks like it," I deadpanned in reply, my trekking coming to a complete stop as I did so. Why stop when my goal was just a few feet in front of me? Well, to put it simply, I was the kind of man who exercised extreme caution all the time, especially so when I was working a _case_ , and the sight of what I was looking for just sitting out in the open made every sort of warning signal go off in my brain. "Puppet?"

Reaching down to my waistline, I pulled loose the knot that kept Isshiki attached to me and held the length of rope up in the air for my wooden assistant to take from me. The moment I felt my grip on the thing be relieved, I quickly drew my pistol from its holster and aimed it straight out in front of me in preparation for what I knew was to come.

"Wait here," I told my companions as I began to slowly make my way towards the door, receiving a reminder to be careful from Isshiki when I did so.

My eyes darted from side to side as I approached the door, looking for anything that might indicate something dangerous happening if I approached the door, or rather, traps, which weren't exactly common when it came to doors leading to the next section of a _scene_ , but I've stumbled on and tripped enough to know that they really did exist.

Even when I reached the door and nothing had happened, I didn't put my guard down, which really was a good thing as it turned out, because the moment I reached the door, my eyes immediately went to the yellow square that rested on the door and that told me all that I needed to know.

On that paper, was a crudely simple, crayon drawing - a drawing that very clearly depicted flames.

"Senpai/Eight!" I heard my two companions call out from behind me, alarm and shock crisp in their voices. Seeing as I had already looked to my left and right and found nothing, I proceeded to look in the only direction that I hadn't checked yet: up. "Look out/Above you!"

There, sitting directly above the door was the telltale sign of a shadow-forming and from it, slowly emerged a snow-white head that clearly resembled that of a canine, but had the long, flowing mane of a lion. Its rows of razor sharp teeth were bare and saliva dripped from its gaping maw as it glared at me with the sort of eyes that only an apex predator protecting its home turf could make.

Throwing myself backward as to allow it space to land, I couldn't help but smirk a bit to myself internally while I watched it emerge from its shadowy cloak. Oh, you will do. You will most certainly do.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Having fought against shadows for close to three years now, I liked to think that I knew what limits were pretty well and the giant, white canine standing in front of me was most definitely something I could handle, even if he was supposed to represent the infamous guardian of Hell's Gate.

"Me am Cerberus, guardian of the door," the beast announced as it lowered its head as if to announce that it was going to attack me, which was probably the most unnecessary thing it could've done. I mean, it was a shadow and I was me, we were going to fight one another no matter what, so why even bother saying that much less signal that you're going to attack? "You want to come through door, you must come through me if—

Not wanting to hear the thing finish whatever it was trying to say to me, which was most definitely something about how I was going to get past it, I sent a bullet screaming through the air and right into one of its big, yellow eyes, causing the beast to flinch back in pain the moment contact between the two was made.

Knowing that this was the best chance to do so, I held my hand out away from my body and willed a certain eyeglass case into existence. I used my wrist to flick the container open and then tossed the contents high into the air in front of me with another motion of my arm.

Discarding the case off to the side to be fade away back into non-existence, I began running towards my enemy, all the while tracking the eyeglasses that I had thrown into the air with my eyes and adjusted my speed and angle of approach accordingly. Was all of this necessary? Oh, most definitely not, but I might as well look a little cool. I sure as hell wasn't going to be able to do so in a bit and besides, this was only going to add to what I was trying to do.

Seeing that my eyeglasses were probably going to land just in front of my white-maned enemy, I reached up with my free left-hand and gripped the pair of glasses that were presently on my face, pulling them off as I threw my legs out under me and entered a full-on baseball slide that would lead to me going straight under Cerberus.

Quickly tucking the pair of glasses that were linked to Job inside my coat as I entered my slide and when I was fully sliding, I used the same hand to reach up and grab the object out of the air and slipped them on, doing so right as my slide under the Cerberus took me right under its underbelly.

Seeing where I was, I fully stopped my slide where I was and put a full clip's worth of bullets right into the shadowy beast's back legs, half into the left and then the other half into the right, which caused the shadow to stagger dramatically.

"Lilith!" I called out to the persona that the glasses I put on contained, which prompted the original succubus, which I had taken into my stable of personas after I beat it into submission, to appear behind my shoulder. Alright, step one is done. " _Mabufudyne_!"

What happened next was a ball of ice slamming right into the shadow's underbelly and knocked it into the air. Seeing an opening, I reloaded the firearm in my hand and began to let loose yet another clip into its exposed underbody in rapid succession, forcibly keeping the thing in the air until I once again emptied my clip.

Having been with so much damage and an elemental attack that it was weak to, the beast that had once stood proud and mighty fell the to ground, almost as if it was just another shadow and not the mini-boss guarding the entrance to the next level of the _scene_. Well, to me he was, but that was beyond the point. The whole scene got a cheer from Isshiki, which was a cool thing to hear considering this was the first time in awhile someone has acknowledged the cool thing I did as being cool. What? Don't judge me! When one does cool things, one typically wants people to tell you that it was cool. That's simply human nature.

Walking over to the Cerberus, I did as I always did when I spoke to a downed shadow and positioned the barrel of my gun right in the area between its closed eyes. I could only imagine what sort of broken sentence ran through its mind when they opened back up to see me standing over it with a gun in its face. Probably something like 'oh shit, me boned' or something like that. I don't know. I don't know what goes through the heads of giant, lion-dog beasts.

"Oi, dog, I want to know what exactly is behind that door you were guarding," I told the downed beast as I moved my finger back onto the trigger. Okay, step two is over and done with. "You tell me now or you get put down like the mutt you are, capiche?"

"Me never give up that," the beast shot back with the same gusto it spoke with earlier, though it was stifled a bit because of the fact that I beat him up so much. "Me would rather take bullet."

Letting out a growl of frustration, I cocked back the hammer on my gun and continued to apply the pressure, "Alright, there are plenty of places where I can put a bullet and not have it kill you, so seeing as you're so ready to take a bullet, I might as well go ahead and feed you plenty then."

"Me welcomes threat…" Hearing the beast say that prompted me to begin to squeeze down the onto the trigger, but before I could do so, a feminine voice behind me called out to me in warning.

"To your right!"

My body instinctively thinking that either Isshiki or Puppet calling out to me, my eyes shot to the right and found nothing there, which of course meant that I had just fallen for a misdirection play and there was something happening to my right. Eyes shooting over to the opposite side, I saw something long, thin, and black heading my way, which prompted me to smirk myself internally.

Oh, here comes step three now.

[… _Sleep Soundly…_ ]

Not to sound like the trademark edgy character of an anime, but pain was something that I had grown accustomed to over the past few years – getting slammed by shadows' attacks near every day for the past few years would do that to someone – so pain wasn't the thing that I was worried about when I got slammed right in the shoulder by the Cerberus' tail. Unfortunately, there was also enough power behind the attack to send me flying. Not quite ragdoll-esque, but I was most definitely in the air.

 _Agh_! Alright, that one hurt more than I thought it would. Shifting my weight in the air, I corrected myself so that when I landed, the soles of my shoes touched the ground first, though that really didn't do much considering that I was still moving so fast. I ended up falling straight onto my back instead of sliding across the floor.

Goddamn laws of physics and my body's subconscious acknowledgment of them… Making it so that I conserved my momentum even though I wanted to come to a dead stop instantly… Wait, now that I think about it… I wonder if I would able to keep them from applying inside the _Inverse_ if I got a bunch of people to think that they were all fake? I mean, this entire plane of existence is based on people's cognition, after all. Huh. I'm going to have to write that down somewhere for later use.

" _Get your head back in the game, boyo,"_ Lilith spat at me from inside my head, breaking me from my reverie, which was a really good thing considering that there was now a fireball heading straight for me.

Rolling to my left and pushing off hard against the ground in the same direction as I got to my hands and knees, I just barely avoided getting hit directly with the thing's fireball. That attack alone wouldn't have killed me, even after taking that first hit from the Guard Dog of Hades, but taking that hit really wouldn't help with my plan at all. I mean, I needed to at least try a little bit. Otherwise, I'm never going to be able to keep the illusion up.

Stupid momentum causing me to roll across the ground, I eventually ended up lying on my back, looking straight up at the ceiling. Knowing that the Cerberus would be to my right, I snapped my head over in that direction, pinpointed its exact location and called out to my persona, "Lilith!"

" _Don't you worry your little head, boyo,"_ the snake-wielding persona reassured me as she suddenly formed right above me, a _Mabufudyne_ already beginning to activate.

Mentally thanking the mental construct, I rolled over onto my chest and pushed myself to my feet, doing so just in time to see Cerberus dodge my persona's attack, which was fine. I only needed Lilith to provide me with some covering fire while I got myself back up in a stance that was more conducive with combat.

Releasing the empty cartridge that was already in my pistol (yes, the one I had in my gun was empty throughout the entire time I was threatening the Cerberus as that was sort of the point), I reached back onto my belt and quickly reloaded the thing while the damned beast was avoiding my attack.

The moment I had started to pull back on the slide to forcibly load a new bullet into the chamber, the Cerberus was already beginning its counterattack, which came in the form of a full out, straight on charge at my person. It was safe to say that I wasn't about to let that slide without at least looking like I was putting up a fight, which was actually a lot easier said than done.

In general, it was a lot harder to be good at something and pretend you were actually bad at it than it was to actually be genuinely bad at that one thing. For example, take acting. It was a well-known thing that it was very hard to play actor characters in movies because it more often than not involved having to play someone acting badly. One simply couldn't just act in such situations, they needed to act in the way they believed the character they were playing would go about acting, otherwise the two performances, the original character and the character that the character was playing, would seem like two, entirely different characters rather than an actor doing their jobs and, well, _acting_.

That might've come off as someone simply over thinking things but that was something people actually noticed and if they noticed something as minuscule as that, I wasn't about to risk having Isshiki see through my ruse. Everything – my body posture, my facial expressions, the cadence of my voice – needed to be perfect if I wanted to pull this off smoothly and I wasn't going to accept anything less.

So, that being my objective, I did as I always did and fired off a rapid series of shots towards my enemy. I just made sure to make some of the shots not hit aforementioned adversary and just the area around the Cerberus as I was sure it would get knocked to the ground if all of them hit. Just needed to let it get close to me so it could get close enough to attack me and… There we go.

The moment the Cerberus got close enough to me, and it was extremely close, it reared up on its back legs and fired a fireball right down upon me. Me, not wanting or being the kind of guy to take such a hit dead on, I hopped to the left and raised my right arm to protect my head area from taking any direct damage.

It should probably be right about now that I mention that taking fire in the Inverse was a weird thing to experience. Mainly because it did in fact hurt - it hurt just as much as someone would imagine a ball of literal fire hitting you would hurt - but it was never painful because of the fact it was hot. It felt more like getting hit by any other physical, but with a tinge of really powerful heat added onto the end. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the fire element of the fireball rarely existed for long before fading away like the magic it was. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that, a few years ago, there was a social media trend over in America where people actively set themselves on fire and that somehow leaked over to Chiba City, Chiba somehow. I honestly just don't know with the _Inverse_ sometimes.

Anyways, the fireball from that just came the Cerberus' maw hit the ground and almost immediately spread to the around the point of impact, causing a small wave of fire to slam against the entire right side of my body, which, again, really didn't hurt as much it sounded. Really, all I felt was a slight burning feeling that was akin to touching the side of the kettle after the watered had finished boiling, which most definitely hurt, but it only usually did so for a second before tempering down to a light stinging pain.

That was what exactly happened after getting hit in the side with that wave of fire, by the way. Momentary, uncomfortably searing pain before then calming to a much less stinging sensation. If I had to assume as to what the wave of fire ended up doing to my body, I would probably be inclined to say that my wallet took the most damage from the attack as I was most definitely going to need to stop by a drug store and pick up some burn cream.

Not seeing that to be enough damage to my body to properly sell Isshiki on the fact that the _Inverse_ was a dangerous, even to an experienced veteran like myself, I once again commanded Lilith to use _Mabufudyne_ and switched out my baton for my pistol.

The powerful ice attack knocking the shadow that was extremely weak to ice attacks down onto its side, I promptly decided to rush up to its head and grab onto its thick, white mane, before then proceeding to wail on the head of the downed creature's head. I got about three swings onto the area around the Cerberus' orbital socket before, from what I had to assume was in response to the blows to the face it was taking, got up from the ground and took me with it, lifting me into the air easily.

Now, one might think that the large dog creature would've done what fairly big dog creatures always did when it got something on it that annoyed them and began to shake its head violently as to get me off it. This jumbo dog creature, instead, decided to forgo its own health and just jumped into the air and slammed its own face hard into the ground, which caused me, who had been holding onto that particular side of its face at the time, to take the brunt of the impact and that weight was nothing to shrug off at all.

My body… While I was much tougher than an average human being in the _Inverse_ , it was not in a good way. My back burned so much that if there wasn't a weight keeping my chest pinned down, I'd be instinctively arching it just to keep from pressing the raw flesh from getting pressed on and that wasn't even saying about my head, which was currently feeling the effects of its back bouncing off concrete and that wasn't a good feeling at all if one liked the world not spinning.

"S-Senpai!" There being a loud, high-pitched ringing noise blaring in my ears, it took me a moment to register Isshiki's words as actual words. " _Ugh_! Let me go already!"

Feeling the oppressive weight of the Cerberus lift off my chest, I immediately let out a few, strained coughs as the aforementioned pressure had almost made it impossible for me to breathe freely. The first thing I did with my newly regained freedom was roll onto my side and clutch at my burning, aching chest, massaging it to get my breathing back to normal.

"Senpai, get up! You need to move!" Again, Isshiki cried out to me in concern. "Above you, it's trying to use that fire—"

Already knowing the information that she was trying to tell me, I quickly rolled over onto my chest and once again called out to Lilith with a command, "Lilith, _Bufula_!"

Looking up to where I knew the succubus had manifested, I watched as it fired off a lot less powerful, single enemy version of a _Mabufudyne_ that I only really used because it would take the succubus less time to fire it off when compared to its much more powerful cousin. Still, it was good enough for its intended purpose, which was to take advantage of the shadow's elemental weakness to ice to knock it down and to, most importantly, keep it from hitting me with a fireball.

Now on my hands and knees and knowing that I was going to need to move quickly, as fast as I could, I reached back to the two weapon holsters on my hip and replaced the pistol in my right hand with my baton, prepping myself for what was to come next.

Simultaneously pushing myself up to my feet and turning to face the infamous guard dog of Hades, I found that the shadow had indeed been momentarily felled by Lilith's attack, which was a sight that made me smirk viciously. Extending my baton with a flick of my wrist as I ran, I very quickly closed the distance between the two of us and began to absolutely wail on the stunned beast while on the run.

To put what I was doing to the Cerberus simply, I beat on the beat thing while staying in constant motion. Jumping from location to location around the white beast, taking a swing at it with every new spot. I did so over and over again until I knew the thing had taken enough punishment to put it down for good, before then jumping away from it completely with my back turned to it.

Seeing that my hat had fallen off after the Cerberus slammed me into the ground, I walked over to it slowly and picked it up by the rim with my right hand, dusting it off with a few slaps on my thigh before placing it back on my head. Just then, I heard the telltale sound of a shadow being vanquished.

Turning to look back it with my hand still holding onto my hat's rim, I blinked at the empty space behind me that was once inhabited by a literal ton of white fur and fire and muttered the first thing that came to mind, my voice coming out haggard and tired due to all the physical activity I just put my body through, "Well, that was convenient."

…

 **Chapter End.**


	11. HIATUS ANNOUNCEMENT

Yo, I'm sorry to say this, but this unfortunately needed to be said and I want to be upfront and honest with all Y'all. I am really not digging writing for this story anymore. Well, actually, that's not entirely true. I still love what I was going for with the story and I do honestly want to see it through to the end, it's just that my current schedule has gotten to me.

See, a part of the reason why I started this story in the first place was to see if I could consistently put out a certain amount of content per week with set due dates, but it's become increasingly clear to me over the past 17 weeks that I CAN do that. I just don't really like it. Like, at all. A part of the reason why is that I don't like monotony. I just don't like doing the same thing and over the past three months, that's all I've been doing - the same thing. Every day I wake up and I write the minimum word count for the day and nothing else, and for a while, that was fine because I liked writing for the story, but recently, that enjoyment just hasn't been there for me. So, I'm going on hiatus to see if, with time, I can light that fire under me again. It might not, so if Oct. 29 rolls by and there isn't an update, you know what happened.

So, sorry if any of you are disappointed and/or upset by this rather sudden cancellation. Just gotta do right by myself and this is something that I felt I needed. Hopefully, I'll see you all again on Oct. 29.


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